Photo Caption: Brno football has not had a lot to celebrate this season. But that’s nothing that another win in the long-running Moravian Rivalry with 1.FC Slovácko cannot fix. The game will be played today (Wednesday) at 3 p.m. Photo Credit: FC Zbrojovka.
Brno, Apr 21 (BD) — Lokomotiva Loses ‘Home’ Opener; Hroši Brno top standings after two weeks; American Football leagues in holding pattern; and Basket Brno Draws USK Praha for postseason.
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Zbrojovka Gets Important Win, Plays Again Today
FC Zbrojovka is playing good football. They tied Příbram, held league-leading Slavia Praha to a scoreless tie, beat Česky Budějovice by two goals and, on Sunday, out-played seventh-place Pardubice before losing, 1-2.
Today, Zbrojovka (4-8-15, 20 points) plays Moravian rival 1.FC Slovácko (15-5-7, 50) at 3 p.m.
And time is running out for the team to stay in the top domestic football league.
The game against Slovácko will be in Uherske Hradiste. This match-up has been important many times throughout the years, often with personal connections. Sometimes children are born during the game, precluding the father’s ability to watch in person. Other times the matchup has been connected to birthdays. And, in one case, when the teams are in the same league, the match-up determines which of a pair of friends will be called “no-man” as long as their team is down in the team-to-team point totals.
This time, Zbrojovka is desperate for three points in order to stay in the Fortuna Liga. Slovácko, which is in fourth-place, wants three points to stay in the chase for the lucrative international-tournament invitations.
Zbrojovka usually steps up when they play their big rivals. Earlier this year, while floundering upon their promotion to the Fortuna Liga, Zbrojovka beat Slovácko, 2-1, in Brno in mid-December. Since then, Slovácko has won at a remarkable pace and Zbrojovka has not.
Brno is still in the relegation zone, four points away from their Sunday opponent: Teplice (6-6-15, 24). Brno needs a victories, especially on Sunday, to stay viable. The game is in Brno and starts at 2 p.m.
There are only six game remaining in the season.
For updated information and the schedule for FC Zbrojovka Brno games, go to the league website at https://www.fortunaliga.cz/. The team website is at https://fczbrno.cz/. Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
Lokomotiva Loses ‘Home’ Opener
Lokomotiva Brno Horni Herspice opened their renovated home in south Brno on Saturday, but the results on the field were less than celebratory: FC Viktoria Plzeň won, 0-3.
Lokomotiva (4-1-8, 13 points) is still in fourth place in the top women’s league.
But FC Viktoria Plzeň (4-0-7, 12) and FC Slovan Liberec (4-0-7, 12) both have two games in hand.
Lokomotiva has one final game in the regular season: At AC Sparta Praha on May 2 at 2 p.m.
BASEBALL
Hroši Brno Top Standings Through Two Weeks
Cardion Hroši Brno has jumped out to a 5-1 record through the first two weeks of the extraliga baseball season, sweeping Olympia Blansko in three games on the first weekend and beating Kotlářka Praha twice in three games last weekend.
Hroši Brno is atop the standings of the 10-team league. They will host Tempo Praha (2-4) for a double-header on Saturday, with first pitches scheduled for 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Then the series moves to Prague for a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
The first part of the extraliga season continues into June. Then the teams are rearranged according to the standings as part of the seeding for the postseason in the fall.
Brno Draci are 3-0 and undefeated but Olympia Blansko (0-3) had an occurrence of the coronavirus and the second-week series was cancelled. Blansko has again cancelled their games for this weekend.
The Draci will play Sokol Hluboká (4-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday at 1 p.m., then travel on Sunday for a 1 p.m. game.
No fans can be in the stands for the beginning of the season; hopefully restrictions will be eased as the season continues. Teams plan to provide video streams and graphic representations of the games will be available.
For updated information and the schedule for Czech extraliga baseball, go to the league website at https://extraliga.baseball.cz/. Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
CAAF Waiting for Government to Allow Play
After having their season postponed from the spring to the fall by the first wave of the coronavirus and after having the postseason eliminated by the second wave of the coronavirus, the domestic American Football leagues are waiting for the government to provide approval for amateur sports to begin this spring.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Basket Brno Draws USK Praha for Postseason
Basket Brno completed Group A1 play with a 3-7 record. Nevertheless, it was the team’s first time to earn a place among the top teams in the league and they will continue into the postseason, probably as the No. 4 team.
Group A1 play is not yet complete, but Brno (16-16) knows that it will play USK Praha (16-15) in the first round of the postseason. The series will begin next Tuesday.
For updated information and the schedule for Basket Brno games, go to the league website at https://www.nbl.cz/. The team website is: https://basketbrno.cz/. Use Google Chrome, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Translate to English”.
