An excerpt:

In a move to counter the rising salary demands coming from the league’s players, the Czech Football Association (ČMFS) is considering the introduction of salary caps on the country’s professional clubs. Such caps would significantly increase the leverage club owners have over their players, meaning more and more stars like Hodúr will fall short in salary negotiations.

According to Vacek, a salary cap would bring financial stability to Czech soccer, which has seen tumultuous times of late. In 2005, the league stripped several professional clubs of their licenses for financial defaults. Even the league’s richest clubs, such as Slavia Praha, have owed players money in salaries or bonuses. …

The full story runs here.

Roll the highlight clips (such as it was, given the tepid first-half lackadaisicality you’d expect from a game played in lovely Larnaca in February)!

6th minute. A full-capacity crowd of an estimated 600 thrills to see Wojciech Lobodzinski catching the Czech defenders standing still and, bam, it’s 1-0.

14th minute. A nice opportunity off a penalty kick goes for naught when Milan Baros, catching Poland keeper Artur Boruc out of position from the baseline provided a sweet feed not six inches IN FRONT OF THE GOAL FOR … no one, it seems. A squandered chance which wouldn’t be the last.

20th minute. The relentless, controlled attack by Czechs is surely reassuring for fans, and even though Jan Koller misses a little chip shot in front of the goal, this writer figures everything will be fine.

29th minute. Shows what this writer knows. A rifle-shot of a goal from young Mariusz Lewandowski makes it 2-0.

30th minute. After Baros’ brave attack earns a goal kick for the Czech Republic, Koller’s shot is saved.

31st minute. At thirty minutes comes the time of possession stat: Czech Republic 55%, Poland 45%. Big deal. It’s still 2-0.

46th minute. The Czech come out with renewed energy; they’re clearly desperate trying to rid their systems of last night’s, um, enjoyment of the beach.

49th minute. Koller can’t convert on a header.

58th minute. A penalty sees the Czechs produce what is called on Hungarian television a “nagy váriácio” (lit. “great variation”). Unfortunately, Zdenek Grygera can’t finish.

65th minute. On a nice breakaway, Koller misses again, beaten inside the box after the seemingly extra (read: superfluous) pass from Tomas Ujfalusi. Ultimately, it’s typically not fair to blame a loss on a single player in futball; alas, it’s becoming very easy to point a finger at Koller. Also, Koller himself is beginning to look exactly like an unholy mix of Zinedine Zidane and Nicolas Cage.

70th minute. Have the Czechs really had five corners against just two for Poland? And the score’s still 2-0? Ugh.

80th minute. The last convincing attack from the ‘Republic culminates in a missed header from Jaroslav Plasil, who looks defeated. And so the Czechs are.

Ah well, that’s why they call it a friendly, eh? Hey, Baros looked pretty good…

PUP (or “physically unable to perform”), as they say in that other football tonight for our guys are Martin Jiranek, Tomas Rosicky, Marek Jankulovski and coach Bruckner.

The starting eleven figures to be Cech, Ujfalusi, Kovac, Rozehnal, Kadlec, Plasil, Matejovski, Polak, Sionko, Baros, and Koller.

Much to my dismay, Hungarian TV isn’t playing the game this evening — i believe it’ll be rerun tomorrow on Eurosport…?

Can’t find it on various IPTV networks, either, though i am presently enjoying Portugal-Ukraine in exotic Portuguese. (Seriously, more women broadcasters are needed for non-English-language futball telecasts…)

Maybe i’ll check out Greece v. Finland or Wales v. Norway later. Sigh…

A little jockspeak from Rozehnal was made retroactively hilarious. Over at SportingLife.com, there’s reportage of a visit made by Diego Maradona to the Newcastle dressing room after the Magpies were right clipped by Arsenal:

Defender David Rozehnal has revealed football legend Diego Maradona was a surprise visitor to the Newcastle dressing room after Tuesday night’s defeat at Arsenal.

“But we haven’t picked up a result again. That is a concern and we cannot rest easily until we do get that win.”

The day after reportage of the story, Rozehnal was a Biancocelesto. I suppose he’s resting well now.

Club president Lazio Cladius Lotito officially introduced Rozehnal to media as a “complete player” and praised him as “one of the top defenders” of World Cup 2006. Rozehnal noted that “something just wasn’t working” in the six months he played with Newcastle and that he felt more at home in a country like Italy. He also claimed no pretense at “playing from the first minute” and that sitting on the bench for a while would be no problem.

As Rozehnal expressed via translation, “che bella la Lazio!”

And a bit of Newcastle/Czech Republic non-news from month’s end: The Magpies failed to sign midfielder Lubos Kalouda. Juventus was supposedly also attempting to sign Kalouda away from FC Brno, but it seems as though nothing has broken through on that deal yet…

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to start getting hyped up for that other kind of football thing happening today.

Those of y’all lucky enough to be able to see it (Here in Magyarország, some hyper-expensive cable company owns the rights to the Premiership. This writer can still see it on slightly illegal IPTV, but this grousing is utterly justified, believe me), the game kicks off at 20.00 GMT.

For quickies on this story, check out:

Baros will play because David Nugent and Benjani Mwaruwari are injured.

Harry Redknapp reckons he’s pulled off a “coup.”

Simply put, “Baros happy to be back” in the Premiership. (This one ran everywhere.)

The Agent speaks.

Meanwhile, Olympique Lyon remains atop the table…

Cheers!

Which games will have the individual greatest impact on Europe in general? What knockout-round games are moneymakers from all countries secretly hoping for? See below.

In Austria, 2008 is all about football: Specifically, Euro 2008 and its looming presence over the country’s entire economy. How much effect does a major sporting event have on local- and macroeconomics? This is the question that cities worldwide perpetually seek to answer in bidding hundreds of millions to billions of euros to host such events. According to a overview study undertaken by MasterCard regarding the macroeconomic effects of UEFA’s Euro 2008 tournament (more on this below), “suggests [a] positive impact will be felt at a local, national and international level, and include a rise in ticket sales, travel, food and beverage sales, merchandising, sponsorship revenue, advertising and use of telecommunications and new media services.”

Amid a squall of forecasts and predictions regarding the economic boost awaited by Austrians and Swiss are a few numbers from the most recent comparable such event, the 2006 World Cup held in Germany.

Before the tournament began, Germany invested some €4.6 billion in infrastructural development to set the table for tourists. Adidas-Salomon predicted a whopping €1.2 billion in soccer gear sales for the year. A much publicized study based on German Chamber of Commerce and Deutsche Postbank research forecasted a bump to the German economy of €10 billion (approximately US $12.5 billion), a number representing 0.5% of the economy’s total domestic performance. The study also said that World Cup 2006 could help create 10,000 to 20,000 permanent jobs.

However, the end result was, in the short-term, not so rosy. The most damning economic statistic from World Cup 2006? Despite visits from an incredible 2 million tourists (double the expected number) spending €600 million, data from the country’s Institute for Economic Research showed that German economic growth would be approximately 0.25%, half the expected amount. Since Germany had based economic growth at 1.6% for 2006, the overestimation of income from the tournament still has lingering effects today.

Essentially apologizing for poor immediate short-term results German Minister of the Economy Michael Glos was forced to admit that 50,000 jobs had been created and only half were temporary, slightly more than planned. However, the best results he saw were that World Cup 2006 “[marked] an enormous gain in Germany’s image.”

This intangible benefit is often touted to cities hosting major sports events, and successful hosting can build a reputation for years; witness tourist-happy Sydney after its Olympic Games. German hospitality got high marks from all media corners and a massive 90% of foreign visitors polled by official sponsor MasterCard said they would recommend Germany as a holiday destination.

In the microeconomic sphere, the big winner was official sponsor Adidas. Adidas-Salomon had doled out approximately US $56.5 million for exclusive marketing rights from Fifa. Going into World Cup 2006, Adidas reported a 37% rise in sales in first quarter 2006. The firm ultimately reported sales of US $1.5 billion during World Cup 2006, an increase of 30%. The firm reported sales of 15 million replica footballs, dead on with their pre-tournament estimate, and way way up from the six million sold during World Cup 2002.

Adidas’ success belied other problems, however. While Adidas reportedly sold 1.7 million Team Germany football shirts alone, the German clothing industry still showed remarkable decline.

The retail sector was a winner in general, with early official figures showing shopkeepers seeing some €2 billion (approximately US $2.5 billion) during World Cup 2006. German Railways bore their significant increase in customers to 15 million, and Lufthansa reported 200,000 extra passengers carried during the tournament. Flag sales saw mind-boggling sales during the tourney, with one department store reporting a 1000% increase in sales. Durex Condoms spokesman André Schmincke was happy to report to German news outlet tagesschau.de that his firm reported a 30% rise (so to speak) in sales during World Cup 2006.

Interestingly enough, the world’s oldest profession itself was among the biggest losers at World Cup 2006. Munich chief of police Wilhem Schmidbauer was oft-quoted as calling World Cup 2006 a “bust” (so to speak) for brothels and private operators. “The fans were more interested in hanging out … and drinking beer than going to prostitutes,” he claimed.

Onto the forecasts, then! According to a study commissioned by MasterCard, official sponsors of the UEFA tournament since 1992, the games are expected to generate upwards of €1.4 billion for the European economy on the whole.

Released with the EURO 2008 draw in Lucerne, Switzerland, the study was overseen by Simon Chadwick, founder/director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre and Coventry University’s professor of sports business strategy and marketing; reportedly, Chadwick is first professor in such a discipline ever.

The study goes on to calculate that each match played at EURO 2008 could be worth an average €42 million, and the most lucrative games €49-56 million. Distribution of income, figures the data, will be roughly equal between host nations Austria and Switzerland, along with a concomitant “halo effect” on the wider European economy.

Based on the EURO 2008 draw, Chadwick reckons the games with the single greatest economic impact will be Group C matches France vs Italy in Zurich; the Netherlands vs France in Bern; and Italy vs the Netherlands in Bern. Those three pool games combined could be worth up a whopping €168 million to the greater European economy.

Also figuring to be valuable in the early stage are Switzerland vs Portugal in Basel; Austria vs Germany in Vienna; and Spain vs Russia in Innsbruck. Though naturally making no predictions about games in the knockout stages, Chadwick predicted that the “ultimate games to deliver the greatest economic impact” would all involve Germany: matchups of Germany vs Italy, Germany vs France or Germany vs the Netherlands would surpass the €56 million mark easily.

The qualification of Russia at the expense of England creates an interesting dimension to EURO 2008, according to Professor Chadwick; this will mark only the second time in the past ten years Russia has played in a major international tournament. Chadwick writes that “it is difficult to predict what the economic impact of the country’s participation in EURO 2008 will be.”

Chadwick does consider EURO 2008 to be “too soon for the real impact of Russian growth starting to take hold” and expects “EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, with greater proximity to Russia, to be where the Russian Bear awakes.”

And if you truly can’t get enough of the voodoo of economics, here’s an extensive study on the effect this tourney’ll have on Switzerland, too.

Please accept my apologies for the recent hiatus in this blog. Busy life, three kids, etc., and plus i’ve been caught up in that other football and my 18-win boys.

But no excuse is good enough, not even life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans, really. A world-class team like the Czechs deserves a world-class blog and i pledge to provide just that.

Stay tuned, i implore you. By late this week, posts will be frequent and good — lotsa good ideas percolating, first-drafting…really.

In the meantime, enjoy the African Cup; great stuff there.

What can this enthusiast add to the blogger’s perfect five out of five score given the Czechs’ away unis? Blogger Brad Barnett praises “one of the nicest kits to be worn by any team in the world,” mostly based on the clean all-white look.

Though this amateur aesthetician could do without the collar, to which Barnett gives the thumbs-up and Soccer Lens likes for the nod to retro, i love this gear for the same reason Barnett did: Cleanliness is next to godliness.

All my favorite sport uniforms have been all-white…

I figure I’d throw in my two eurocents on a few Central Eastern Europeans…

For the home team, it’s 1962 Golden Ball winner Josef Masopust. Masopust, the last Czech to take the prize until long-time Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved bagged it in 2003 (and the last player of the year to represent Czechoslovakia ever). Masopust is probably most well-known on the international stage as captain of the 1962 Czechoslovakia team that lost 3-1 to Brazil in the World Cup final.

One wonders if Nedved might one day be considered greatest Czech player ever. Perhaps with a World Cup finals appearance…

For Croatia, I was happy to see Davor Suker get the nod. I experienced Sukermania during the 1998 World Cup while spending a vacation in amazing Korcula. The checkerboarded ones were awesome in that tourney, weren’t they? I’ll always have a soft spot for the Sukerman.

In Romania, the choice of Gheorghe Hagi was a no-brainer with a football career nearly as long as his country’s existence.

This writer’s resident nation Hungary hasn’t offered a nomination yet. You gotta wonder if they’re going to go with Ferenc Puskas. Fifty years ago, Puskas’ mighty “Golden Team” had dissipated thanks to the events of October 1956. Puskas himself emigrated and spent 1958 to 1966 with Real Madrid. He never played with the Hungarian nationals again, and even got four caps with Spain in 1961-1962.

If not Puskas, then who? Béla Illés? Maybe they should just go with Zoltán Gera; hey, he’s got the PR savvy…

I’ll tell you, though, the Polish selection surprised me, with Poland’s committee taking Wlódzimierz “Unlucky” Lubanski. True, he set the national team record for career goals with 50 in 80 games and was the captain of the gold-medal winning squad at the 1972 Olympics, but…what about Zibi?

Of course, as Dennis Miller used to say, that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Believe it or not, this virtual project is exactly what it sounds like. My Football Club has attained controlling share in British football club Ebbsfleet United.

After ponying up £35 (approximately €47, $69), you’re a co-co-co-(53,000 thousand times more or so)-co-owner of the prospective majority share. After paying the membership fee, “you will become a member of the MyFootballClub Trust. Your Trust will purchase a controlling interest in the football club, in effect making you a joint owner of your football club.”

And check this out: A second website is attempting the same thing. Opened in August, The People’s Club has more or less the same goal and similar operation to My Football Club and boasted some 1,800 members as of 1 January.

The People’s Club is looking to get 40,000 members at £39 each and believe they can raise £1,000,000 before the end of the 2007-2008 season.

The best part about People’s? Probably commercial manager Simon Lassam’s quote: “…this is a chance for the fans to take control again and show the Russian billionaires and the big conglomerates that they cannot keep buying up football clubs and ignore the fans just to make a quick buck.”