Later this summer, Czech football fans will be commemorating the 30th anniversary of their famous run to the Euro 96 final.
It's particularly special given it was the first major tournament the country played in after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
On top of that, it was the first punch landed by what is regarded as their golden generation, one that over the next decade would contain talents like Pavel Nedved, Petr Cech and Tomas Rosicky among others.
However, while the Czechs routinely qualify for European Championships, the World Cup is a sore point as they only qualified once in 2006 and crashed out at the group stage.
They are hoping to end that wait this summer by qualifying for the 2026 tournament. But of course, the Republic of Ireland are standing in the way in next Thursday's pivotal play-off semi-final in Prague.
The current Czech squad are under new management with veteran coach Miroslav Koubek and are still reeling from a shock 2-1 defeat to Faroe Islands during the group stage last October - the aftermath of which saw West Ham's Tomas Soucek stripped of the captaincy.
However, they do have Lyon midfielder Pavel Sulc just back from injury and a formidable home record - with the Slavia Prague contingent very used to the surroundings of the Fortuna Arena.
But at the same time, there's no guarantee that star striker Patrik Schick of Bayer Leverkusen will start.
That's according to journalist Jiri Hosek, who is the head of sports at CANAL+ TV in Czechia.
He joined the RTÉ Soccer Podcast today to provide a strong insight into the aforementioned context around Czech football and how Koubek will approach the Ireland fixture tactically.
Among the areas covered are:
- The continued fallout from the shock defeat to the Faroe Islands
- The appointment of Miroslav Koubek and how he will set up against Ireland
- The key players including Pavel Sucl and why Patrik Schick is not a guaranteed starter on Thursday
- The Czech view on Ireland and Troy Parrott
- The legacy of the golden generation and the World Cup as a white whale for Czech football
You can watch the full interview above via YouTube, including his advice for the Irish fans who will be travelling to Prague in numbers next week.
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Watch Czech Republic v Republic of Ireland on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 7pm on Thursday, 26 March. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app or listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
