to the semi-finals; the victorious teams there qualified for the final. In the previous international tournament, the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the Czech Republic were represented as the Czechoslovakia national football team, but failed to qualify for the finals, finishing in third place in group 4, behind Romania and Belgium. Germany were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Bulgaria. The UEFA Euro 1996 Final was the second meeting between the sides, with the first coming in the group stage. The sides had met one another seventeen times (as Germany against Czechoslovakia), with Germany winning ten, Czechoslovakia winning four and the remainder ending in a draw. The UEFA Euro 1996 Final marked Germany's fifth final in seven European Championships while the Czech Republic were making their first appearance in the tournament decider. Route to the final Czech Republic The Czech Republic were assigned to UEFA Euro 1996 Group C where their opponents were Germany, Italy and Russia. The high quality of the teams in the group led The Guardian in 2007 to call it the "'deadliest' group of death" at a European Championship or World Cup. The first group match saw the Czech Republic face Germany at Old Trafford in Manchester on 9 June 1996. Germany took the lead in the 26th minute through Christian Ziege who ran with the ball along the left wing before cutting inside Miroslav Kadlec and shooting into the bottom corner of the Czech Republic goal. Six minutes later, Germany doubled their lead with a similar goal from Andreas Möller. Pavel Nedvěd then struck Karel Poborský's cross over the bar, but the Czech Republic failed to threaten further and the match ended 2–0, with their manager Dušan Uhrin suggesting that the "players were just overawed." During the match, the referee David Elleray booked ten players, six from Germany and four from the Czech Republic, and Germany lost Jürgen Kohler for the remainder of the tournament after suffering a knee injury. The Czech Republic's second game was against Italy and took place at Anfield in Liverpool on 14 June 1996. Italy made several changes to their starting lineup from their previous match, a 2–1 victory over Russia, and the Czech Republic took the lead after just four minutes. Poborský avoided Paolo Maldini's tackle and crossed for Nedvěd who controlled the ball on his chest and scored past Angelo Peruzzi, the Italy goalkeeper. Alessandro Costacurta then appeared to