Yellow card peril leaves Nedved far from mellow

European Footballer of the Year Pavel Nedved goes into the Czech Republic’s Euro 2004 semifinal against Greece on Thursday worried that...

European Footballer of the Year Pavel Nedved goes into the Czech Republic’s Euro 2004 semifinal against Greece on Thursday worried that a booking would rule him out of a major final for the second successive year.

Nedved was forced to watch the 2003 Champions League final between his team Juventus and Italian rivals AC Milan from the stands after he picked up a second yellow card in the semifinal win over Real Madrid and collapsed to his knees in despair. On Sunday he was booked in the 61st minute of the Czech’s convincing 3-0 quarterfinal win over Denmark leaving him among 11 players who head into the semifinal matches knowing a yellow card would end their hopes of playing in the final.

Just over a year ago, it was Swiss referee Urs Meier, now under-fire from the English media after he disallowed a goal in their country’s quarterfinal defeat to Portugal, who ended Nedved’s dream of a first Champions League final appearance. Nedved went into Juve’s second-leg of the semifinal against Real on a yellow card and after an unnecessary foul on Steve McManaman eight minutes from the end he was booked and sorely missed in the goalless final that Milan won on penalties.

Juve were 3-1 up and winning 4-3 on aggregate when Meier pulled out his yellow card and some questioned if it was really necessary to book Nedved for a trip in the middle of the field.

Sunday’s booking was harsh as Russian referee Valentin Ivanov punished Nedved for little more than incidental contact with Danish winger Jesper Gronkjaer and there was a look of disbelief on the midfielder’s face when the yellow was produced.

Nedved’s Czech teammates Marek Jankulovski and Tomas Ujfalusi are also one booking away from suspension, while opponents Greece have Theodoros Zagorakis and Giorgos Karagounis having to watch their step.

For Wednesday’s other semifinal the hosts Portugal have Costinha, Deco and Ricardo Carvalho on yellow cards, while the Netherland’s Roy Makaay, Andy van der Meyde and Frank de Boer are all one booking away from a ban, although De Boer looks likely to miss out anyway due to injury. All will be aware that are plenty of precedents in recent competitions, including the last four World Cup finals, where key players have missed out on finals for disciplinary reasons.