Czech Republic (National Football)

Sparta Prague are facing disciplinary action after lying about the fitness, and skin colour, of former Tottenham striker Tomas Pekhart. 

The Czech top-flight champions withdrew Pekhart, as well as Manuel Pamic and Vaclav Kadlec, from representing their countries for "fitness reasons" this week. They then fielded all three in a friendly against Zenit St Petersburg in Spain on Wednesday.

And in an apparent attempt to disguise the players’ identities, their names didn’t appear on the teamsheet, and the three wore jerseys with teammates’ names on them.

Pamic played as Jakub Podany and Kadlec as Pavel Kaderabek as the Sparta technical staff tried to get away with what they thought was a foolproof plan in the low-key affair.

But such a plan was foiled by a Czech journalist who recognised the players in photos on Zenit's official website.

That, and the fact that Spurs academy graduate Pekhart, a white Czech Republic international, wore the shirt of Martin Abena, a black player who plays for Cameroon.

It led Sparta to publish an official apology on their website, with the club conveniently pinning the blame on their head coach Josef Chovanec, as he apparently didn't tell the team's directors about the decision to hide the players' identities. 

"I didn't realize at the moment what consequences my decision could have," the Sparta boss said, who was clearly willing to be the scapegoat in this situation. 

The club originally said a "relatively unknown Pavel Kaderabek scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Zenit", and only later acknowledged that Kadlec, playing in Kaderabek's jersey, was the scorer.

That was before trying to dig themselves out of a hole again, claiming the proper jerseys were not immediately available due to Chovanec's last-minute decision.

Sparta Prague were taking on Zenit St Petersburg as a warm-up match for next week's UEFA Europa League clash with Liverpool.

21-year-old Pekhart, on loan at Sparta from FK Baumit Jablonec, is considered a hot prospect for the future, having scored 14 goals in 28 league matches last season.  

Now that we are officially within one year of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals, it's safe to say that excitement is building around the anticipation of this huge world event taking place in South Africa.

Qualifying will be finished by Nov. 18, and then the world will be in a frenzy of ticket buying and flight arranging until the start date of June 11, 2010.

But this World Cup could have a little different flavor than those of recent years past.  The only surprise misses of 2006 were Greece and Denmark (both in the same group), and Greece solely because it had won EURO 2004 by surprise.  In 2002, there were really no surprise misses at all.

In 2010, qualification has been all jumbled up, and the possibilities of surprise teams left out and put in are endless.  Here's a look at the biggest names that could well miss the tournament, succeeded by a look at the unproven countries searching for that one breakthrough bid.  There are different qualification procedures for the six FIFA confederations and complicated seedings, so those rules can be found here.

Big Qualification Flops

Poland

Third in Group Three of UEFA (three points behind Northern Ireland and five points behind Slovakia)

Lost 3-2 to Northern Ireland, 2-1 to Slovakia, and tied Slovenia 1-1

Made the two previous World Cups

Remaining games: Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia

Czech Republic

Fourth in Group Three of UEFA (five points behind Northern Ireland and seven points behind Slovakia)

Lost 2-1 to both Poland and Slovakia, tied 0-0 with both Slovenia and Northern Ireland

Made 2006 World Cup and sported one of the Cup's youngest rosters

Remaining games: Slovakia, San Marino, Poland, Northern Ireland

Portugal

Third in Group One of UEFA (four points behind Hungary and seven points behind Denmark)

Lost 3-2 to Denmark, Tied 0-0 with Sweden twice and Albania once

Made the two previous World Cups and took fourth place in 2006

Remaining games: Denmark, Hungary, Hungary, Malta

Sweden

Third in Group One of UEFA (four points behind Hungary and seven points behind Denmark)

Lost 1-0 to Denmark, Tied 0-0 with Portugal twice and Albania once

Made the two previous World Cups and made the Round of 16 in 2006

Remaining games: Hungary, Malta, Denmark, Albania

Mexico

Fourth in CONCACAF (one point behind Honduras)

Lost to Honduras 3-1 and to El Salvador 2-1

Made the four previous World Cups and made the Round of 16 in 2006

Remaining games: USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago

Big Qualification Surprises

Chile

Second in CONMEBOL (one point behind Brazil)

1-0 win over Argentina

Hasn't made a bid since 1998

Remaining games: Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador

Honduras

Third in CONCACAF (five points behind Costa Rica)

3-1 win over Mexico

Hasn't made a bid since 1982

Remaining games: Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, USA, El Salvador

North Korea

Second in AFC Group B (four points behind South Korea)

1-0 win over Saudi Arabia

Hasn't made a bid since 1978

Remaining game: Saudi Arabia

Ranked 106th in the world by FIFA/Coca-Cola

Hungary

Second in Group One of UEFA (three points behind Denmark)

0-0 tie with Denmark

Hasn't made a bid since 1986

Remaining games: Sweden, Portugal x2, Denmark

Slovakia

First in Group Three of UEFA

2-1 wins over Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and Poland

Has never made a bid

Remaining games: Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Poland

Northern Ireland

Second in Group Three of UEFA (two points behind Slovakia)

3-2 win over Poland, 0-0 tie with Czech Republic

Hasn't made a bid since 1986

Remaining games: Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic

Will our 2010 FIFA World Cup have a drastically different look than it has in many years?

We can count on Africa to give us something we haven't seen before.  But how will Europe play out, and will North Korea win its final game? 

Only time will tell, but as we wait and watch, one can only wonder what these surprises might do to the future of international football.

(1) Cech. Well he is just makes me feel so relaxed when he's between the posts. I just have full confidence in him.

(4) J. Zanneti. He is just so smooth with the ball and I think he has a magnet in his shoes. The best thing is that he grew old but his ability is still the same.

(11) Mihajlovic. World's best free kick taker with the best scoring percentage from free kicks and his corners are deadly. His left golden foot should be taught in schools. He is a legend.

(13) Nesta. In his days with Lazio, he was the best confident defender. A true Captain.

(3) Maldini. In the old days when he was a left back, he could use both feet and his tackles are legendary.

(15) Patrick Berger. He is the reason why I started supporting the Czech Republic. He has a deadly left foot and can pass and runs in addition to vision and physical presence.

It is really rare to find a player like him but he was cursed with the injury curse, otherwise he would've been as big as Nedved in Euro 2004, if not bigger. One of the best players in the world on his day. If only.... IF ONLY he didn't get injured that much.

(18) Stefano Fiore. He is the most under-rated player in the history of Italian football. He didn't get his chance in the national team. I just wonder why is he playing in Serie B now?? HOW??? His passes and vision are Fabregas-like.

(10) Dragan Stojkovic. - I know he is a Serbian Legend but in other parts of the world no one knows him. He is the reason why I loved football in the first place, when I played the FIRST Winning Eleven video game (Japanese league), he was in the team Grampas which was the team I always chose.

Everything he did I imitated in school. He made me know that football is not about the dribbling tricks, its about everything you do on the field, from passing a simple pass to scoring a goal. His vision is BEYOND any player I know these days. If you don't know him or never watched him play, well you missed a lot.

(7) Tomas Rosicky. My favorite player nowadays, his passing, movement, shooting, shielding the ball, runs with or without the ball, goals, tackles and his HAIR (JK) he reminds me of Stojkovic.

He is the only player (along with Fabregas) that I feel plays from his heart FOR THE TEAM. He doesn't keep the ball for too long, he doesn't juggle the ball he just plays straight PURE CLASS football. (To watch him in action, go to my youtube channel here http://www.youtube.com/user/carpentera11)

(18) Klinsmman. He is a striker that I admire who I think was the best at what he does. I used to like to watch him play.

(20) Bierhoff. I can't imagine Klinsmann playing without Bierhoff. His headers are THE BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN in my life, specially the one he scored against Mexico in the World Cup of 1998. I think his head is made of steel. Wasn't the best with his feet but his head is more than enough.

I choose this team based on players I admire and enjoy watching. And I feel that most of my choices are under-rated players, that's why I didn't choose the players who everybody already knows.

I hope you enjoy this article and I hope you know the players that I mentioned. :P if not, look for them on youtube.

Question: who do u think is under-rated and should be mentioned in my article?

Chelsea's keeper Petr Cech has signed a new five-year deal to keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2013.

The Czech international joined Chelsea from French club Rennes for £7m in 2004 and has made 166 appearances for the club, keeping a remarkable 90 clean sheets.

In his first season, Cech was awarded the Barclays Premiership Golden Gloves as he set a new record in top-flight football for not conceding a goal in 1,024 minutes and for the most clean sheets (21) in a single Premier League season.

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari added: "I am delighted that Petr has signed a new contract.

Now the question begs—Is he really the best keeper in the world as some sections in media seem to suggest?

Well, in my opinion, based on his first two seasons at Chelsea, he has shown himself to be the best Goalkeeper in the world, when we won the FA English Premier League title back to back in 2005 and 2006. 

Cech is only 25 years of age and he is just going to get better as goalkeepers generally reach their peak in their 30's and they don't retire until they turn 40 years old.

He was massively influential in Chelsea's recent back to back Premiership titles when only a record breaking 15 goals were conceded during an entire League season in 2005

Cech was voted into the all-star team of Euro 2004 after helping his country reach the semi-finals. Cech also received the individual award of Best Goalkeeper in the 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 seasons of the UEFA Champions League. In addition, he was named in the FIFPro and UEFA Champions League teams of the season in 2006.

Cech currently holds three records: a Czech professional league record of not conceding a goal in 855 competitive minutes, an English Premiership record of not conceding a goal in 1,025 minutes, and the most clean sheets accomplished in a single Premier League season (25), set during Chelsea’s 2004-05 title-winning campaign.

He also has a club record at his former team Sparta Praha, having gone 928 minutes unbeaten in all competitions in 2001-2002, when his unbeaten run in Czech league competition was combined with his performances in the UEFA Champions League.

Then came "the incident."

I always thought Cech was THE undisputed top keeper in the world before the head incident. Still an excellent keeper but not the best for me since then.

Strangely he never won the vote during a world cup or European Championship season. This could be because he feels the pressure playing for his country, or that Chelsea have such a good defense and he never needed to do much so he looked good.

One thing is for sure, Cech is one of the most consistent goal keepers around.

There are many great keepers around and Cech is surely among them. However, since the serious head injury he's simply not the same as he was. Before the injury I can't remember him making any mistakes ever, since then he's made as many clangers as many others in the Premier League. As I said though he's still one of the best, just now is more error prone.

Some sections of the media claim Cech still has eye-sight problems and his error that lead to Gallas scoring the winner in the 1-0 loss to Arsenal was a direct result of those problems.

These claims have no foundation and will be disregarded untill proof is provided.

One of the ways to judge a keeper is in the example, where an attacker has beaten the defence and only has the goalkeeper to beat.

For many keepers, you just give up and assume a goal is coming. With Cech, you still think there is a greater than 50 percent chance that a goal will not come. I don't think many other keepers are capable of this.

So having said all that, I conclude that Cech is not the best keeper in the world but definitely ONE of the best.

Here are my top five keepers in the world:

1. Gianluca Buffon

2. Petr Cech

3. Edwin Van Der Sar

4. Iker Casillias

5. Pepe Reina...