5 hrs ago
4:51PM
Czeching out the opposition
One of the big unknowns about tonight is exactly what mood the Czechs will be in for the game.
As a team, their home record is impressive, with 15 wins from their last 18 games and just two defeats in that time.
However, the has been some on an off the pitch disquiet that could be distracting.
A humbling 2-1 loss away to the Faroe Islands during qualifying led to recrimination among players, fans and the football association.
First, the captain was stripped of the armband. Then the manager was sacked and after missing out on at least three of preferred replacements, they settled for 74-year-old veteran boss Miroslav Koubek.
Add to that, only yesterday Czech police charged 32 people over a football match-fixing scandal in the country.
The scandal only affects some lower league teams in the country, so none of the players or management of the national team are affected, but it’s certainly cast a bit of a shadow over the Czechs in the build up to tonight’s match.
Now in saying this, 20 years ago this year Italian club football was engulfed in a much more high-profile match fixing scandal and the national team went on to win the World Cup that year. So let’s not be getting ahead of ourselves.