Czech Republic's injured captain Tomas Rosicky said he believed it was his teammates' strong character that had seen them rebound from an opening hammering by Russia to securing their place in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals
The 31-year-old playmaker had to watch from the touchline because of a calf injury as his team-mates beat co-hosts Poland 1-0 in Wroclaw on Saturday to top Group A.
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Tomas Rosicky
Such a scenario had looked highly unlikely when they opened with a 4-1 defeat by Russia — instead it is the Russians who are heading home after a 1-0 defeat by Euro 2004 champions Greece also on Saturday saw the Greeks take second spot. Rosicky told the website of Czech daily paper DNES: “We knew how to handle the situation after losing to Russia, that it’s no good to panic. If we didn’t have strong personalities, the team would have fallen apart. But we stayed calm thanks to coach (Michal) Bilek and our team spirit.”
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