Czechs Have Seen Both Sides of a 3-2 Euro Comeback

The biggest party in Europe tonight is in Turkey, after the Turks fought back from a 2-0 second half deficit to eliminate the Czech Republic 3-2 and move on to face Croatia in the quarterfinals.

The Czechs must know just how they feel. In the second round of Group D at Euro 2004, they took on the Netherlands in what was always expected to be the game of the group. It started disastrously for the Czechs, when Wilford Bouma scored for Holland in just the 4th minute, one of the fastest goals of the tournament. Things went from bad to worse just fifteen minutes later, when Ruud van Nistelrooy made it 2-0 to Holland.

Granted, it was earlier in the match, and there was more time to make things right, but the situation was no less dire for the Czechs. Holland was tied with Argentina for #5 in the FIFA World Rankings at the time, 6 places above the Czech Republic, and with Germany also in the group, they had to think that their European adventure might just be coming to a close.

But recovery came in some very familiar ways, with big Jan Koller opening the scoring for the Czechs, just as he did today. They went into the half at 2-1 to Holland, and with hope once again in the eyes of the Czech players. In the 71st minute, it was Euro 2004 Golden Boot winner Milan Baros with the equalizer, and the Czechs had the momentum. Vladimír Šmicer wrapped it up for them two minutes before full time, and the Czechs won the match.

Something to think back on today, as they hold their heads and wonder how that 2-0 lead got away from them. It can happen to the best, even Petr Cech. Here’s a rather lengthy 9 minute highlight package of the game, which our friends over at YouTube haven’t yet had a chance to delete:

PS - Credit to commenter Shehan, who pointed out the similarity in these two scorelines in the comments for the Turkey-Czech match today. After writing this up, I found your comment. Good catch.