Fan of the Day: The Bohemian curse

Berlin - When talking to Jan about football there is a fatalism to his words impossible to ignore. Days after the Czech Republic's elimination from the World Cup, the inevitability of it dominates his discussion. 'We are condemned to doing nothing at football,' says the young man from Brno. 'Our best chances of success came at Euro 2004. We had a fantastic team with Pavel Nedved who had been chosen as the best player in Europe and we played fantastically. Al last we thought our moment had come but then Greece knocked us out in the semi-finals and our dreams were shattered.' The Czech Republic began the World Cup with an ominous 3-0 win over the United States with Tomas Rosicky scoring two crackers and Nedved seemingly back to his best. 'Just when everyone had us down as favourites and speaking wonders of us, it all fell apart,' he adds with resignation. 'We lost to Ghana and then Italy and suddenly we were out. We play well when we're not expected to and badly when we are. 'The problem is our country. Everyone knows Prague is a perfect, beautiful and romantic city. And it's the same with the national team: we play good football but we're not desperate enough to win. I suppose that's life - I just live in a pretty nice country.' And with that sober conclusion, the smile returns to Jan's face. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

And Also

Look Back at the Worst Celebrity Breakups

Look Back at the Worst Celebrity Breakups - PopEater
HMV hacks a hefty 100 GBP off the PSP Go - The Tech Herald
Nintendo Digital Releases: Combatribes, Solomon's Key, Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood - Cinema Blend
Lea Michele Looks Forward to Singing Streisand, Madonna on 'Glee' - PopEater
A&E series 'Hoarders' and 'Intervention' premiere Monday, Nov. 30th, preview

Your Talkback on this Story

Latest Headlines in World Cup 2006

Via BuzzFeed

World Cup 2006

World Cup 2006 News

Fan of the Day: The Bohemian curse

And Also

Your Talkback on this Story

Similar articles

Latest Headlines in World Cup 2006

Older Talkback

From Sites we Like

In Monsters and Critics

Corporate

The Fine Print