Group 3

Following the draw for the UEFA EURO 2004 qualifiers, Group 3 was widely considered to be one of the most competitive. The Netherlands were slight favourites but with the Czech Republic and Austria - and to a lesser extent Belarus and Moldova - also involved, nothing could be taken for granted. 

The Dutch entered with a point to prove after missing out on the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals while the Czechs, runners-up in the competition in 1996, were also hoping to bounce back under new coach Karel Brückner after failing to reach Korea/Japan. 

Brückner was quick to introduce several youngsters from his Under-21 side that had reached the final of the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. However, he also kept faith in experienced players such as Pavel Nedved, Jan Koller and Karel Poborský. 

The first round of games in September and October 2002 went to form with Austria and the Czech Republic beating Moldova and Belarus. The Netherlands also won their opening fixture by beating Belarus 3-0 at home. The first defining tie of the group saw the Netherlands travel to Austria. A classy performance by the visitors earned them a 3-0 victory courtesy of Clarence Seedorf, Phillip Cocu and Roy Makaay. 

However, the momentum swung towards the Czechs when Koller grabbed an equaliser against the Dutch in Rotterdam in March. The Czechs followed that fine 1-1 draw with a 4-0 home demolition of Austria, with Koller (2), Nedved and Marek Jankulovski scoring. 

The Dutch were nervy against Moldova, needing an 85th-minute goal from Mark van Bommel to give them a 2-1 victory. The Moldovans built on that to achieve perhaps the best result in their history as they beat Austria 1-0 at home, Viorel Frunza scoring the winner. When the Dutch beat Austria 3-1 in Rotterdam in September it ended the visitors' hopes of reaching Portugal and, with no other unexpected results, the group boiled down to the crunch encounter between the Czech Republic and the Netherlands in Prague. 

Goals from Koller, Poborský and Milan Baroš earned the home side a memorable and deserved 3-1 victory and secured their qualification for Portugal. Meanwhile, the Dutch had again failed to meet their own high expectations and were left to enter the play-offs. The final set of games saw the Czechs win 3-2 in Austria while the Dutch headed into their play-off showdown against Scotland in good heart after a 5-0 win at home against Moldova.  - UEFA.com

 

Austria	2-0	Moldova	07/09/02
Herzog pen 3, pen 30
Netherlands	3-0	Belarus	07/09/02
Davids 34 Kluivert 36 Hasselbaink 73
Belarus	0-2	Austria	12/10/02
		Schopp 57 Akagunduz 89
Moldova	0-2	Czech Republic	13/10/02
		Jankulovski pen 71 Rosicky 80
Austria	0-3	Netherlands	16/10/02
		Seedorf 15 Cocu 20 Makaay 29
Czech Republic	2-0	Belarus	16/10/02
Poborsky 7 Baros 23
Belarus	2-1	Moldova	29/03/03
Kutuzov 42 Gurenko 58		Cebotari 14
Netherlands	1-1	Czech Republic	29/03/03
van Nistelrooy 44		Koller 68
Czech Republic	4-0	Austria	02/04/03
Nedved 19 Koller 32, 62 Jankulovski pen 57
Moldova	1-2	Netherlands	02/04/03
Boret 16		van Nistelrooy 37 van Bommel 84
Moldova	1-0	Austria	07/06/03
Frunza 60
Belarus	0-2	Netherlands	07/06/03
		Overmars 62 Kluivert 69
Czech Republic	5-0	Moldova	11/06/03
Smicer 42 Koller pen 73 Stanjer 82 Lokvenc 88, 90
Austria	5-0	Belarus	11/06/03
Aufhauser 33 Haas 47 Kirchler 52 Wallner 62 Cerny 69
Netherlands	3-1	Austria	06/09/03
van der Vaart 30 Kluivert 60 Cocu 63		Pogatetz 34
Belarus	1-3	Czech Republic	06/09/03
Bulyga 13		Nedved 36 Baros 54 Smicer 85
Czech Republic	3-1	Netherlands	10/09/03
Koller pen 15 Poborsky 37 Baros 90		van der Vaart 61
Moldova	2-1	Belarus	10/09/03
Dadu 26 Covalciuc 88		Vasiluk pen 90
Austria	2-3	Czech Republic	11/10/03
Haas 48 Ivanschnitz 78		Jankulovski 26 Vachousek 79 Koller 90
Netherlands	5-0	Moldova	11/10/03
Kluivert 43 Sneijder 51 van Hooijdonk pen 74 van der Vaart 80 Arjen Robben 89