Czechs take spot prize

France 0 Czech Republic 0 aet; Cz Rep win 3-1 on pens

Petr Cech was the hero as the Czech Republic defeated the favourites France on penalties to win the European Under-21 Championship after a scoreless draw here last night.

After an outstanding display during the 120 minutes the match lasted to ensure a blank scoreline, the Sparta Prague goalkeeper then made saves from both Alain-Pierre Frau and Julien Escudé in the penalty shoot-out before Jean-Alain Boumsong struck his effort against the bar to end France's quest.

Miroslav Beranek's Czech youngsters claimed their first European Under-21 success as Michal Pospisil, Zdenek Grygera and Rudolf Skacel all scored, with Camel Meriem the only French player to find the net in the shoot-out.

The victory made up for the disappointment of two years ago, when the Czechs were runners-up after losing to Italy in the final in Slovakia. Beranek, their coach, left the scorer of the winner in the semi-final, Pospisil, on the bench and opted for Liverpool's Milan Baros as the lone man up front, but the hero of the night for the Czechs was their goalkeeper.

Cech made some great saves as France, despite the intelligent prompting of the Fulham midfielder Steed Malbranque, never looked like repeating the easy victories gained in their previous four games in the tournament, which included a 2-0 win over the Czechs in their first game.