CZE: -.
PENALTIES (second): Lubos Kubik 1:1, Pavel Nedved 2:2, Patrik Berger 3:3, Karel Poborsky 4:4, Karel Rada 5:5, Miroslav Kadlec 6:5.

FRA: -.
PENALTIES (first): Zinedine Zidane 1:0, Youri Djorkaeff 2:1, Bixente Lizarazu 3:2, Vincent Guerin 4:3, Laurent Blanc 5:4, Reynald Pedros 5:5 (Peter Kouba).

CZE: Kouba 7; Hornak 6.5, Kadlec 7, Rada 6.5, Novotny 7; Nemecek 6.5, Nemec 6 (Kubik, 84 - 6), Poborsky 7, Nedved 6, Smicer 5.5 (Berger, 46 - 7); Drulak 5 (Kutolek, 70 - 5.5).

FRA: Lama 6.5; Thuram 5 (Angloma, 83 - 5.5), Blanc 6.5, Roche 6, Lizarazu 6; Desailly 5.5, Guerin 4.5, Zidane 4.5, Lamouchi 4.5 (Pedros, 62 - 6.5), DJORKAEFF 7; Loko 4.5.

REFEREE: Leslie Mottram (Scotland).

AUDIENCE: 43.877, Old Trafford, Manchester.

YELLOW CARDS: Nedved, Nemecek, Kubik (Czech Republic); Thuram, Roche, Lizarazu (France).

RED CARDS: NONE.

The game between France and the Czech Republic can be divided into the worst 60 minutes of the Championship, followed by 60 minutes of quite an enjoyable game. Still, it was scoreless, and at the end Reynald Pedros, one of the best French players in this game, rolled the ball weakly towards Kouba's legs, seeing France eliminated. The Czechs, a team to be considered by nobody before the Championship, have made it to the finals.

The refereeing of Leslie Mottram yesterday was bugless, including the bright decision one minute from time; in both semifinals, we've seen the truly professional referees and wondered loudly whether UEFA couldn't find the referees of this class to be present in every game. And one Israeli spot before we proceed - Radek Drulak of the Czech Republic will probably move this season to Maccabee Haifa, and we hope that the sad story of Edgardo Adinolfi won't repeat itself.

And so, the first 60 minutes - what was there? The penetration of Drulak at the left wing, finished with a curved kick that missed the frame (20). The shot of Sabri Lamouchi high (26), and then an offside of the same Lamouchi (29). A shot of Desailly after a turn, whistling near the right post of Kouba (40). A yellow card for Thuram after a foul on Smicer (41), and a substitution of Smicer who was unable to continue playing (46). A shot of Drulak after a mistake of Lizarazu, from a hard angle (54), stopped by Lama, the first shot of the game to go into the frame (!). A shot of Zidane near the right post of Kouba (56), and finally, the offside of Drulak (60), another perfect decision made by Mottram.

The last 60 minutes, on the other hand, were enjoyable, and a lot of thanks should go to the best French player of this tournament, Youri Djorkaeff. A misleading move of him on Rada (62) was finished with a fantastic shot from 18 meters that shook the bar of Kouba, and a pass of Zidane found Djorkaeff with a great bicycle kick that missed the frame by centimeters (63); in between, Lama jumped to catch a high ball before Drulak. Kouba (64) denied both Pedros and Djorkaeff, and a wonderful penetration of Berger at the right wing was finally stopped by Thuram (65). Zidane shot near the right post of Kouba after a great pass by Pedros (67), and Nedved failed to find the frame after Berger's pass (73). Another shot of Nedved (81) went to the hands of Lama, Berger missed the frame from 25 meters (89), and Kouba took the ball before Djorkaeff (90).

An extra-time started, and Kouba took the ball of Zidane (94) and the shot of Loko (97). Kubik shot a great flat ball (95), and Lama stretched and held it tight before Poborsky could reach the rebound. Blanc missed the fabulous pass of Djorkaeff by centimeters (99), and Kadlec shot a great free kick a little bit above the left crossbar of Lama (101). Berger was denied twice (103), by Lizarazu and Lama, and Lama stopped Nedved, after a great preparation work of Karel Poborsky (105). Lama took another ball of Berger (108), and Kouba made two saves, one from the wide shot of Pedros (114) and one from the hard-angled shot of Angloma (115). A free kick performed by Djorkaeff (118) was missed by Laurent Blanc.

The last minute came, and France performed a corner kick. The ball deflected to Pedros, the latter penetrated into the box and fell, and the referee marked to go on! I needed the replay, but it was clear then - Pedros dived. Had there been more referees like Mottram in EC'96, less people would've been pissed off. Much less.

Zidane shot the first penalty flatly to the right of Kouba, too precise, 1:0. A shot of Kubik left Lama frustrated, again too precise, 1:1. Djorkaeff shot to his right, Kouba flew well to touch the ball, but 2:1. I held my fingers crossed to Nedved (guess why? :-) ), and he misled Lama, shooting to the keeper's left, 2:2. Lizarazu bombed it at half a height to the right of Kouba who nearly touched it, 3:2. Berger shot under the left crossbar of a helpless Lama, 3:3. Guerin shot it under the bar, 4:3. Poborsky just copied the shot of Berger, 4:4. Blanc shot a weak ball, rolling in under Kouba's stomach, 5:4. Rada shot a flat ball to the left of Lama, the keeper took the corner but saw it being 5:5. And here came Pedros, who shot a flat and weak ball to his right; Kouba fell there to parry it with his legs, and it was still 5:5.

Kubik wanted to shoot again, but was disallowed to do so; after some thinking, the captain Miroslav Kadlec took the shot. It went to the center, Lama stretched his hands falling to the right, but failed to parry the ball. 6:5, and the Czechs made it to the final. Who would've thought?.. Who could've thought?..

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