What’s New - Prague and Czech Republic - page 49

Sporting Obsessions
Ice Hockey
It's a toss-up whether football or ice hockey inspires more passion in the hearts of
Prague sports fans, but hockey probably wins. Games are fast and furious, and the at-
mosphere can be electrifying - it's well worth making the effort to see a game, and
take part in a genuinely Czech experience.
The Czech national team has been rampant in the last decade or so, winning the
World Championship three years running (1999 to 2001) and taking the title again in
2005 and 2010. It also won Olympic gold in 1998 - a feat still celebrated for defeat-
ing the mighty Russians in the final - and bronze in 2006.
Prague's two big hockey teams are HC Sparta Praha ( www.hcsparta.cz ) and
HC Slavia Praha ( www.hc-slavia.cz ) , both of which compete in the 14-team na-
tional league (known as the Extraliga). Gifted young players are often lured away by
the promise of big money in North America's National Hockey League, and there is a
sizeable Czech contingent in the NHL.
Sparta plays at the huge, slightly run-down Tipsport Aréna ( CLICK HERE ) at the
Výstaviště exhibition grounds in Holešovice, and Slavia Praha at O2 Arena ( 266
212 111; www.sazkaarena.com ; Ocelářská 460, Prague; 3 ); the season runs from
September to early April. Buy tickets online at www.sazkaticket.cz or
www.ticketportal.cz , or at the stadium box office before matches.
Football
Prague's two big football clubs, SK Slavia Praha ( www.slavia.cz ) and AC Sparta
Praha ( www.sparta.cz ) , are both leading contenders in the national fotbal (foot-
ball) league, with fiercely partisan supporters all over the country. Two other Prague-
based teams - FC Bohemians ( www.bohemians1905.cz ) and FK Viktoria
Žižkov ( www.fkvz.cz ) - attract fervent local support.
The season runs from August to December and February to June, and matches are
mostly played on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. You can buy tickets
(100Kč to 400Kč) at stadium box offices on match days.
The Czech national team performs well in international competitions, having won
the European Championship in 1976 (as Czechoslovakia), and reached the final in