Koller returns to haunt Belgium

Wednesday, 7 February 2007
by Berend Scholten

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Belgium 0-2 Czech Republic
Jan Koller returned to his former stamping ground in Brussels to inspire the Czech Republic to victory against struggling Belgium.

Early goal
The giant AS Monaco FC forward scored 42 goals in 64 Belgian league matches between 1999 and 2001 for RSC Anderlecht, and took just six minutes tonight to make his mark by heading in a Marek Jankulovski cross. It was exactly the start the Belgium coach René Vandereycken had hoped to avoid, having made six changes from the team that lost their last UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier to Poland on 15 November.

Simons dropped
The most drastic of those saw captain Timmy Simons dropped to the bench, while Marouane Fellaini of R. Standard de Liège and fellow midfielder Maarten Martens of AZ Alkmaar made debuts. The Red Devils had a chance to draw level soon after as Luigi Pieroni charged in on the Czech Republic goal, where Petr Čech, wearing now-familiar head protection, came out smartly to deny the forward. The Chelsea FC player's opposite number Stijn Stijnen was also alert in the 35th minute when palming away another Koller header.

Vanden Borre dismissed
With both coaches making numerous substitutions, the tempo dropped in the second half. Yet Koller remained the most dangerous player on the pitch, fizzing a header just wide of the post on the hour before setting up substitute Marek Kulič for the second in the 74th minute. Belgium's miserable night was completed moments later when Anderlecht defender Anthony Vanden Borre was sent off for pulling back the goal-bound Kulič.

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