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Match No. 753 vs. Luxembourg Match No. 755 vs. France Match Results


England National Football Team Match No. 754

England 2 Czech Republic 0 [2-0]

Wednesday, 18 November 1998

Match Summary and Report

Match Summary and Report Team Records England Pre-Match Czech Republic Pre-Match


 

Match Summary
Status: Football Association friendly international match.
Venue: Wembley Stadium, Wembley, London, capacity 79,045.
Attendance: 38,535.
Goals: England - Darren Anderton, 21st min.
England - Paul Merson, 39th min.
Cautions: None
Expulsions: None
Officials: Referee - Urs Meier, 39 (22-Jan-1959), Switzerland, FIFA-listed 1994.
Assistant referees - M. Freiburghaus & G. Lucca, Switzerland,
Fourth official - M. Busacca, Switzerland;
Conditions: Kickoff 8.00 p.m. GMT; The weather was cool with rain in the second half making the pitch greasy.
Miscellany: Teams presented to Jonathan Edwards M.B.E.; England mascot is Daniel Mawson, 11 years old, Cleator, Cumbria;
Statistics:

Type

England

Czech Republic
Goal Attempts 24 9
Attempts on Target 6 5
Hit Bar/Post 0 1
Corner Kicks Won 6 3
Offside Calls Against 1 2
Fouls Conceded 13 11
Time of Possession NK NK
Statistics:

-

England Team
Ranking: 11th in FIFA ranking of 18 November 1998; 10th in Elo world ranking before this match and 9th after this match.
Colours: White shirts with navy blue collar and red/navy blue side panels, navy blue shorts with white and red trim, white socks with navy blue tops.  The 1997 "home" uniform.
Coach: Glenn Hoddle, 41, appointed manager 2 May 1996, effective 30 June 1996;
28th match, W 17 - D 6 - L 5 - F 42 - A 13.
Captain: Sol Campbell, 2nd captaincy

England Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-Martyn, A. Nigel 11-Aug-1966 32 G Leeds United AFC 8 0 1992-2002
2-Keown, Martin R. 24-Jul-1966 32 D Arsenal FC 19 1 1992-2002
3-Campbell, Sulzeer J. 18-Sep-1974 24 D Tottenham Hotspur FC 24 0 1996-active
4-Butt, Nicholas 21-Jan-1975 24 M Manchester United FC 7 0 1997-active
5-Ferdinand, Rio G. 07-Nov-1978 20 D West Ham United FC 5 0 1997-active
6-Le Saux, Graeme P. 17-Oct-1968 30 D Chelsea FC 32 1 1994-2000
7-Beckham, David R.J. 02-May-1975 23 M Manchester United FC 20 1 1996-active
8- Anderton, Darren R. 03-Mar-1972 26 M Tottenham Hotspur FC 26 7 1994-2001
9-Dublin, Dion 22-Apr-1969 29 F Aston Villa FC 4 0 1998
10-Wright, Ian E., sub off 70th min. 03-Nov-1963 35 F West Ham United FC 33 9 1991-1998
11- Merson, Paul C., sub off 77th min. 20-Mar-1968 30 M Aston Villa FC 21 3 1991-1998

England Substitutes
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
18-Fowler, Robert B., sub on 70th min. for Wright 09-Apr-1975 24 F Liverpool FC 8 2 1996-2002
17-Hendrie, Lee A., sub on 77th min. for Merson 18-May-1977 21 M Aston Villa FC 1 0 1998
Formation:

3-4-1-2 with wingbacks

Martyn -
Keown, Ferdinand, Campbell -
Anderton, Beckham, Butt, Le Saux -
 Merson (Hendrie) -
Dublin, Wright (Fowler)
Substitutes
Not Used:		 12-Gareth Southgate, 13-Richard Wright, 14-Gary Neville, 15-David Batty, 16-Jamie Redknapp, .

Czech Republic Team
Ranking: 6th in FIFA ranking of 18 November 1998; 11th in Elo world ranking before this match and 12th after this match.
Colours: Red shirts with a blue band bordered by a white pinstripe, white shirts, blue socks; made by Puma.
Coach: Jozef Chovanec, 38, appointed January 1998;
10th match, W 7 - D 2 - L 1 - F 17 - A 6.
Captain: Jiří Němec, replaced by Patrik Berger for the second half.

Czech Republic Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-Kouba, Petr 28-Jan-1969 29 G FK Viktoria Žižkov 26 0 1994-1998
2-Látal, Radoslav, sub off 46th min. 06-Jan-1970 28 M FC Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen-Schalke 04 e.V., Germany 39 1 1994-2001
3-Votava, Tomáš 21-Feb-1974 24 D AC Sparta Praha 6 0 1998-2001
4-Novotný, Jiří, sub off 46th min. 07-Apr-1970 28 D AC Sparta Praha 11 2 1994-2002
5-Řepka, Tomáš 02-Jan-1974 24 D ACF Fiorentina, Italy 25 0 1994-2001
6-Berger, Patrik 10-Nov-1973 25 M Liverpool FC, England 28 14 1994-2001
7-Němec, Jiří, sub off 46th min. 15-May-1966 32 M FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e.V., Germany 45 1 1994-2001
8-Poborský, Karel 30-Mar-1972 26 M Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Portugal 40 1 1994-active
9-Kuka, Pavel, sub off 73rd min. 19-Jul-1968 30 F 1. FC Nürnberg, Bayern, Germany 43 17 1994-2001
10-Šmicer, Vladimir, sub off 46th min. 24-May-1973 25 F Racing Club de Lens, France 32 15 1994-active
11-Bejbl, Radek 29-Aug-1972 26 M Club Atlético de Madrid, Spain 36 3 1994-2001

Czech Republic Substitutes
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
12-Lokvenc, Vratislav, sub on 46th min. for Šmicer 27-Sep-1973 25 F AC Sparta Praha 16 1 1995-2005
13-Baranek, Miroslav, sub on 46th min. for Němec 01-Nov-1973 25 M AC Sparta Praha 3 1 1995-2002
17-Vonášek, Roman, sub on 46th min. for Látal 08-Jul-1968 30 M KSC Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium 7 0 1994-1999
18-Kotůlek, Martin, sub on 46th min. for Novotný 11-Sep-1969 29 F SK Sigma Olomouc a.s. 7 0 1994-1998
14-Slončík, Radek, sub on 73rd min. for Kuka 29-May-1973 25 M FC Baník Ostrava 14 0 1996-2000
Formation:

3-5-2 with wingbacks

Kouba -
Novotný (Kotůlek), Votava, Řepka -
 Poborský, Bejbl, Němec (Vonášek), Berger, Látal (Baranek) -
Kuka (Slončik), Šmicer (Lokvenc)
Substitutes
Not Used:		 15-Lubos Kozel, 16-Ladislav Maier.

Match Report

 

This may have been a friendly fixture, with no Euro 2000 qualification points at stake, but England did produce a quality performance to beat the team that they could so easily have played in the Euro 96 final.  Such a positive result against opponents unbeaten in their nine previous internationals lifted England after a pretty miserable autumn.  Hoddle and his players left the field to a great chorus of approval and the clash with world champions France in three months' time was now even more eagerly awaited.

England withstood some early pressure from the Czechs, resulting from enterprising play in midfield by Poborsky and Bejbl, before their trio of 2golden oldies2 - Ian Wright, Paul Merson and Dion Dublin - started causing the visiting defence problems with their expert running into space.  England had a confident look about them but they definitely needed a goal,.  It arrived on 22 minutes.

Graeme Le Saux played Wright in down the left and the West Ham striker, in his first England start of the season, burst past Novotny and swept the ball across the box.  Darren Anderton, arriving late and more or less undetected, sent a low left-footer between Kouba and the post.  England warmed to the task after that and fashioned another goal before half-time.

Wright was again involved.  Cutting inside on 39 minutes, he lifted over a cross which Dublin flicked towards the far post.  Merson, the man over, was on hand to guide a cool shot past the 'keeper.  England maintained their control in the second half, though there was one moment of alarm when Nigel Martyn had to fly across his goal to tip over a rasping shot from Lokvenc, a substitute. - The Official F.A. and England Yearbook 1999-2000.

 

Source Notes

 

The Sun newspaper archives
RSSSF Czech Republic pages
FA Yearbook 1998-99
Rothmans Yearbook 1998-99
Czech Republic F.A. official website

CG/PY