Czech Republic and USA Betting Preview

On the only occasion that the Czech Republic and USA have met in a football match previously was in the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy when the latter side were playing under the guise of Czechoslovakia, and they duly beat the Yanks 5-1. Oh how times of changed. The USA are now a far more accomplished outfit these days and, as they demonstrated in Japan/Korea 2002 when reaching the quarter-finals, they're not to a team be dismissed lightly under any circumstances. Bruce Arena's charges finished top of their regional qualifying group for the first time in their history when booking their ticket for this tournament, a campaign during which they took the notable scalps of their south-of-the-border neighbours Mexico. Judging by how wild the celebrations were following that famous victory, there will still be some American's nursing hang overs fully nine months later! However, back to the here and now. Despite boasting prodigious talent like DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan, along with the class and experience of the likes of Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna, it's hard to envisage the USA beating the Czech Republic if Karel Bruckner's men play how we know they can play. Buoyed by the last hurrah return to International football of the brilliant Pavel Nedved, and the news that Tomas Rosicky has fully recovered from the thigh injury which at one point looked set to stop him from playing at the finals, the Czech's are bound to be in confident mood. Despite limping off during training with a niggling knee problem, it looks likely that the 33-year-old Nedved will be available for selection in the Czech's Group E opener. Bruckner's troops will be a force to be reckoned with in this tournament if picking up from where they left off in the 2004 European Championships. Although they were knocked out by Greece at the semi-final stage, the Czechs played some of the best attacking football on offer in Portugal. Admittedly, their approach was bordering on gung-ho at times, but their style was, nevertheless, both effective and entertaining. Their performances to come from behind when beating both Germany and The Netherlands during that tournament were nothing short of spectacular. Striker Milan Baros has been habitually disappointing in the Premiership, failing to settle at Anfield before joining Aston Villa, for whom he doesn't seem to enjoy plying his trade. But, as we saw in Portugal, the twenty-four-year-old is a deadly predator when he puts his best foot forward, and his record of twenty seven goals from forty nine appearances for his country at senior level is not to be sniffed at. However, he is not certain to line-up on Monday owing to a strained tendon. With this in mind, Jan Koller, who is a veritable nightmare for his opponents to defend against, will be the main target man up front. The Czechs possess a wealth of creative talent in the middle of the park, which should ensure that Koller gets plenty of ammunition to feed off of. A scorer of an impressive forty-two goals in sixty-eight appearances, Borussia Dortmund hitman Koller is well worth backing in the first goalscorer market at 11/2 with Blue Square. All in all, despite the USA being a much-improved side who are well organised defensively, it really is hard to look beyond the Czechs in this fixture. They are not too prohibitive a price at 21/20 with Premierbet in outright match result betting - indeed they are odds-on with most bookmakers - and punters are advised to fill their boots. Verdict: 2pts Czech Republic to beat USA @ 21/20 (Premier Bet)1pt Jan Koller to score first @ 11/2 (Blue Square)