Alex McLeish has revealed Birmingham attempted to bring Czech Republic international Jan Koller to St Andrews.

Birmingham have rejected a bid of £5.5m, plus central defender Bobo Balde, for striker James McFadden from Celtic.

Turkey captain Nihat Kahveci admitted it was an “unbelievable feeling” to see his team recover from a two-goal deficit to earn a last-gasp 3-2 win over the Czech Republic in a Group A thriller in Geneva.

Turkey 3 Czech Republic 2

Turkey 0 Czech Republic 1

Czech Republic 1 Portugal 3

Czech Republic striker Jan Koller will not join Fulham despite a move to Nurnberg apparently hitting a snag.

CZECH REPUBLIC sealed first place in Ireland’s Group D with a comfortable victory in Cyprus.

CZECH REPUBLIC booked their spot in next summer’s European Championships last night with a 3-0 victory over Germany in Munich.

STEVE STAUNTON’S dream of leading the Republic of Ireland to next summer’s Euro 2008 finals are effectively over after Marek Jankulovski’s first-half winner gave the Czech Republic an almost unassailable Group D advantage.

Steve Staunton's dream of leading the Republic of Ireland to next summer's Euro 2008 finals are effectively over after Marek Jankulovski's first-half winner gave the Czech Republic an almost unassailable Group D advantage.

As expected Steve Staunton made one change for a match the Republic of Ireland realistically needed to win in order to maintain their hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals.

Steve Staunton has backed midfielder Andy Reid to bounce back from the disappointment of being dropped and help steer his nation towards Euro 2008 qualification.

IF there was one man who dominated the headlines the last time Ireland played the Czech Republic it was the then West Brom employee Paul McShane.

KAREL BRUCKNER is a man under pressure and it shows. He spent 28 minutes speaking to the media at Sparta Prague’s Axa Arena, most of it accompanied by deep sighs and withering looks.

Petr Cech’s face beams out from billboards across Prague and it takes a brave man here to suggest that the Czech Republic and Chelsea number one has any serious rivals for the title of the best goalkeeper in the world.

Lee Carsley has urged his Republic of Ireland team-mates to seize upon a Czech Republic striker crisis and take a huge step towards European Championship qualification in Prague tomorrow night.

CZECH REPUBLIC striker Jan Koller has been ruled out of Wednesday’s Euro 2008 qualifying clash against the Republic of Ireland through suspension.

THE Czech Republic have called up two of the heroes of Slavia Prague’s Champions’ League qualifying team for the European Championship games against the Republic of Ireland and San Marino.

Birmingham manager Steve Bruce has dismissed speculation he is about to sign veteran Czech striker Jan Koller from Monaco.

THE Czech Republic limped to a narrow victory over Cyprus thanks to a single goal from Jan Koller which took them back level with Germany at the top of Euro 2008 qualifying Group D.

Germany held off a late rally by the Czech Republic to clinch a well-deserved victory in the battle of the Group D leaders in Prague.

Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner has called up Tomas Rosicky for the forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers, apparently convinced the Arsenal midfielder is over his recent groin strain.

STAND-IN strikers Kevin Kuranyi and Mario Gomez led Germany to a 3-1 win over Switzerland in a friendly international last night, but there was bad news for Chelsea as Michael Ballack limped off injured a minute before the break.

ALL going according to plan, the Irish defence won’t be hogging the headlines tonight but that doesn’t mean that Richard Dunne will be anything less than fully focused for the 90 minutes in Serravalle.

IT may not count for much in the long-run but there are good reasons why Kevin Kilbane’s goal against the Czech Republic was Liam Mackey’s sporting highlight of the year.

Republic of Ireland boss Steve Staunton believes Paul McShane has set a standard that offers hope for the future.

Republic of Ireland boss Steve Staunton was able to breathe a sigh of relief last night at the end of what he described as “a long, hard week”.

MAYBE Bob Dylan knows more about football than the rest of us. After all, he was the man who said the darkest hour comes right before the dawn.

Rep of Ireland 1 Czech Republic 1

SAN MARINO fell to another humbling defeat, conceding their 20th goal in two Euro 2008 qualifiers as the Czech Republic ran out 7-0 winners in Liberec.

CZECH REPUBLIC captain Tomas Rosicky has backed his team’s strikers to regain their confidence in tonight’s Group D home fixture against San Marino ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Lansdowne Road.

GERMANY crushed San Marino with a record 13-0 win last night as striker Lukas Podolski scored four in the Euro 2008 Group D qualifier.

Slovakia 0 Czech Republic 3

Czech Republic 2 Wales 1

Ghana provided the biggest shock of the 2006 World Cup so far as they comfortably beat the world's second-ranked nation to keep alive their hopes of a place in the last 16.

Aston Villa striker Milan Baros is still suffering from a foot injury and is uncertain when he will be available to play for the Czech Republic in the World Cup.

PETR CECH has told Arsenal fans to expect more of the same from £8 million (€11.7m) new boy Tomas Rosicky next season.

Giant Czech striker Jan Koller’s World Cup is not over after scans revealed the thigh injury picked up in Monday’s win over the United States is not as serious as was first feared.

CZECH REPUBLIC striker Milan Baros fears he will miss the entire World Cup with a foot injury.

United States 0 Czech Republic 3

Czech Republic boss Karel Bruckner is breathing a sigh of relief after it emerged midfielder Tomas Rosicky’s thigh injury is not serious.

There were few surprises as Czech Republic boss Karel Bruckner named his 23-man squad for this summer’s World Cup.

THE Turkish Football Federation has condemned the treatment of its national side in Saturday’s World Cup playoff against Switzerland, fuelling tensions for the return leg in Istanbul tomorrow night.