I'm confident we're able to exceed expectations, says Petr

Are you glad to have put the waiting period behind you and to finally be able to get back into action?
Yes, as you would expect. We can't wait for the opening game since the initial wait was way too long. I would very much welcome if the tournament started as soon after the season as possible, but there's nothing I can do about that.

The Czech team will face Spain, Croatia and Turkey in its tough group. What chances do you think we have?

We're by no means the favourites but there's all the more room for surprises. We'll try to give the main contenders as much of a hard time as we can and obtain the best of results. Our group really is tough. Spain is pretty much the favourite of the entire championship. Croatia is considered to be the tournament's black horse, whereas Turkey is likewise not to be underestimated. The latter's performance often depends on their current mindset.

Do you think the Czech team has a chance of qualifying after all the group games?

All of our players strive to achievr as much success as possible. You wouldn't ever want to play three games and go home. I'm sure we will indeed qualify. We all probably have some sort of dreams prior to the tournament. Mine would be to take part in the Euro finals.

Who do you consider to be the favourites of the entire tournament?

Germany, France, Spain, as well as Italy, who are very much a tournament-team. Croatia and Belgium could be said to be the black horses.

How about England's chances?

They have a pretty strong team and it's definitely within their strenghts to win the whole tournament. Whether they can withstand all the pressure is another question, though. The whole nation will be watching. The expectations are always through the roof which in turn tends to lead to slight disappointment. We shall see.

Have you had the opportunity to take in the full atmosphere of the tournament since your arrival in France,

I think we all have. We've been working on securing qualification for two years and it's a fantastic reward to have done so. It's the perfect environment here. You can definitely tell France is a fully-fledged football state. The public interest is immense. It was quite something when our very first training got attended by three thousand fans.