The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.
Jan Koller is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was noted for his height, strong physique, and heading ability.
Vladimír Šmicer is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his senior career at Slavia Prague, the only Czech club he ever played for. In 1999, Šmicer moved to England where he played for Liverpool, winning multiple honours. He is perhaps best remembered at Liverpool for his long-range goal in the 2005 Champions League Final victory against Milan. At Liverpool he also won an UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup treble in 2001 as well as the 2003 League Cup.
Pavel Nedvěd is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is regarded as one of the most successful players to emerge from the Czech Republic, winning domestic and European accolades with Italian clubs Lazio, including the last Cup Winners' Cup, and Juventus, whom he led to the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final.
Miloš Zeman is a Czech politician serving as the third and current President of the Czech Republic since 2013. He previously served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party during the 1990s, he is credited with the revival of the party into one of the country's major political forces. Zeman briefly served as the President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1996 to 1998.
The Czech Republic national football team represents the Czech Republic in international football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR). Historically, the team participated in FIFA and UEFA competitions as Bohemia and Czechoslovakia.
The Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. It is governed by the Czech Ice Hockey Association. The Czech Republic has 85,000 men players officially enrolled in organized hockey.
The Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they were rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has competed internationally from 1992 until a 2022 ban, and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. Russia has been one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six," the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won nine times since 2005. Since September 2021, the head coach is Alexei Zhamnov, who took over from Valeri Bragin.
Jiří JarošíkCzech pronunciation (help·info) is a Czech football manager and a former player. His playing position was defender and midfielder. He started his club career in his native Czech Republic, winning six league titles in seven years with Sparta Prague. He headed abroad to continue his football career, spending eight years playing for various teams including CSKA Moscow, Chelsea, Birmingham City, Celtic, Krylia Sovetov and Real Zaragoza. During this time he won league titles in four countries. He then returned to Sparta, although only for two seasons, after which he headed to Spain to play for Deportivo Alavés.
Hockey Club Sparta Praha, commonly known as HC Sparta Prague, is a Prague-based Czech ice hockey team playing in the Czech Extraliga. The club has won four Czech championships (most recently in 2007) and four Czechoslovak championships, as well as two Spengler Cups, making it one of the most successful hockey clubs in Czech history. The team HC Sparta Praha plays its home games at O2 Arena, the largest arena in the country.
1. FC Slovácko is a Czech football club based in Uherské Hradiště. The team was established in 1927 as SK Staré Město and on 1 July 2000 as 1. FC Synot, which was a merger of the original club with FC Slovácká Slavia Uherské Hradiště. Since 2009 the club has played in the Czech First League. Slovácko have won one Czech Cup, and reached the cup final a further two times.
Jan Suchopárek is a Czech football coach and former defender, who is head coach of the Czech Republic national under-21 football team.
Karel Jarolím is a Czech football coach and former Czechoslovakia international footballer. As a player, he played as a midfielder and made 275 appearances in the Czechoslovak First League.
The UEFA Euro 1996 Final was the final match of Euro 1996, the tenth European Football Championship, UEFA's top football competition for national teams. The match was played at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on 30 June 1996 and was contested by the Czech Republic and Germany. Both sides were drawn in UEFA Euro 1996 Group C alongside Italy and Russia. Germany won the group and defeated Croatia in the quarter-finals before progressing to the final with a victory over England in the semi-final after a penalty shoot-out. The Czech Republic finished the group stage as runners-up to Germany. They beat Portugal in the quarter-finals before overcoming France in the semi-finals following a penalty shoot-out.
Group C of UEFA Euro 1996 was one of four groups in the final tournament's initial group stage. It began on 9 June and was completed on 19 June. The group consisted of Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Russia.
Biathlon Junior World Championships were first held in 1967 for men and in 1984 for women. According to the International Biathlon Union rules, biathletes qualify as Junior if they turn 20, 21 or 22 during the season from November to October, they qualify as Youth when they turn 17, 18 or 19 during the season.
David Koller is a Czech musician and record producer. He started his career in the early 1980s as the drummer of Jasná Páka and has also played in various other bands, including Pusa, Žentour, and Blue Effect. He founded the popular Czech band Lucie in 1985 and remained there until 2005, when he departed due to disagreements with fellow Lucie members P.B.CH. and Robert Kodym. The group reunited in 2012. In 2008, he was temporarily a touring member of Chinaski, and he leads his own group, Kollerband. Koller has produced music for Miro Žbirka, Koistinen, Alice, Plexis, Walk Choc Ice, Oskar Petr, Lucie Bílá, and many others. Together with Lucie member Michal Dvořák, he composed the score for the films Amerika (1994), Poslední přesun (1995), and Mrtvej brouk (1998). With artist David Černý and filmmaker Alice Nellis, he opened the multicultural center MeetFactory in 2007.
As the Czech Republic is considered to be the successor team of Czechoslovakia by FIFA and UEFA, they have participated in ten UEFA European Championships; three of which were as Czechoslovakia and seven of which were as the Czech Republic. As Czechoslovakia, they became European champions in 1976. As Czech Republic, they qualified for the final stages of each of the seven European tournaments they have played qualifiers for, and were runners-up at Euro 1996.
The mass media in the Czech Republic refers to mass communication methods through broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet and their influence on population.