Prague date has sense of déjà vu

SOCCER/Uefa Cup first round draw: Prague in September. There is a strong probability the Red Army will comprise a good many romantic partners when this first-round tie of the Uefa Cup rolls around in three weeks' time. Gavin Cummiskey reports

Slavia - not their better-known cross-city rivals Sparta - provide the opposition for Cork City on September 15th, with the return leg at Turner's Cross on Thursday, September 29th.

Slavia finished nine points adrift of Sparta last season and were comprehensively denied a champions league spot by Anderlecht, beaten 4-1 over two legs, but they will still provide a hugely demanding test for Damien Richardson's team.

It will be a familiar experience for Richardson as he brought Cork to Prague for a Uefa Cup preliminary game, which Slavia won two-nil, during his first stint with the club 11 years ago. They lost six-nil on aggregate after a forgettable night back in Bishopstown.

"They play a wonderful brand of football so it will be a great test and Prague is one of my favourite cities, a beautiful place," said Richardson. "I am hoping it is rewarding in a financial sense, which I'm sure it will be, but from a footballing point of view it will be a great experience for the lads.

"That part of the world always produces technically gifted teams. When we played there before they played the type of one- and two-touch football that was almost a joy to behold, even though we were on the receiving end.

"We could have got beaten four or five nil out there and I had a good Cork team back then. I think (Patrick) Berger and (Karol) Poborsky played, maybe even (Vladimir) Smicer. It was the start for that crop of really talented players. I don't know much about the present team yet."

Although Thursday's groundbreaking draw with Djurgardens keeps domestic club football firmly on the European map it ended once more with Cork failing to score at home. Richardson agreed that if they do manage to get out of Prague with a favourable result, such a flaw must be addressed. Still, the draw suits him just fine.

"I personally like being away first. The chairman might have liked to be at home first. I don't know. I'm glad as it allows us to know what we have to do in Turner's Cross. We proved last night Turner's Cross can be a very special theatre of football."

Owing to Cork's progress, league matches against Longford Town and UCD will be postponed. When they do come around, the European adventure may be over and Richardson still be seeking a trophy.

"That's probably the biggest challenge of all for these players," he admitted. "We have to learn the art, like all good teams across Europe, of being able to concentrate on Europe midweek and then revert back to domestic competition with equal aplomb."

Also in yesterday's draw, Everton emerged from the drum with Dinamo Bucharest. Bolton Wanderers drew Lokomotiv Plovdiv of Bulgaria, Middlesbrough face Greek side Skoda Xanthi and Hibernian drew Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk of Ukraine.