A few people asked me why I had not reviewed day 3 to my surprise. So, despite time contraints, I will try to review as many days of the World Cup as I can from now on even though the posts might be a bit delayed.

Australia vs Japan 3-1

With Croatia and Brazil the other two teams in the group, the team which lost this match could say the world cup good bye. So when Japan scored that goal, which most Aussie supporters won’t even call a goal (as it wasn’t), Australians were enraged. It has taken many years for the Socceroos to qualify and it would have been a shame if they went out this way. So, I felt delighted when Australia pulled back the game with three quick goals in eight minutes. The game saw short passes and plenty of opportunities for both teams. It was quite hot but I wasn’t impressed be either team to be honest. The Australian date with destiny in the match versus Croatia is set though.

Czech Republic vs USA 3-0

When asked who will win the world cup, most people would say Brazil including me. Some would opt for Argentina, Holland, France or even Italy. How many people will give Czech Republic a chance? Despite the FIFA rankings being a joke (proven by the thrashing USA got), you have to stand up at take notice of the Czech Republic. They have a solid mid field and excellent attacking options. Apart from Nedved, they now have the young star - Rosicky!

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For part 15 of the series, I interviewed Sam Beckwith. Sam moved to Prague in 1996 and started working as a journalist there. These days, she works for an online city guide called Prague TV and also freelances for the British football magazines World Soccer and When Saturday Comes.

I thank Sam for agreeing to the interview.

Tell us a bit about the Czech football history and the football culture which exists.

The Czechs have a remarkable football history - especially when you consider that the country’s population is only 10 million, and was only 15 million before the Czech-Slovak split.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Sparta Praha and Slavia Praha were among Europe’s best club sides, and both won the Mitropa Cup, the Central European forerunner of the European Champions Cup.

Czechoslovakia’s greatest achievement was winning the European Championship in 1976, beating West Germany in a penalty shoot-out. (Antonin Panenka scored the decisive penalty, cheekily chipping German goalkeeper Sepp Maier from the spot.)

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