Marek Jankulovski has vowed the Czech Republic squad will do their utmost to give Karel Brückner a fitting finale to his long reign as coach. Brückner ends his six-and-a-half year tenure in charge of the national side at the end of UEFA EURO 2008 and the AC Milan full-back knows a successful tournament would provide the perfect swansong.

‘Excellent career’
"Of course, we know that our coach is ending his excellent career, as are players like Jan Koller and Tomáš Galásek," said the 31-year-old, recently voted Czech Player of the Year for 2007. "So, it would be very satisfying if we could do well. It would be our thanks to them, so we shall do our best."

Integral part
Jankulovski was an integral part of the Czech team that reached the last four of the 2004 finals under Brückner, but the attack-minded left-back is aware that emulating that feat will be difficult four years on. Co-hosts Switzerland await the Czechs in Saturday’s tournament opener in Basel, before Brückner’s men go on to meet Portugal and Turkey in an evenly-balanced Group A.

‘Difficult group’
"The Swiss are playing at home, so they will have supporters behind them," said Jankulovski. "Portugal are among the favourites for the tournament. Their strength is in [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Deco, and [Ricardo] Quaresma. In my opinion, they have the best chance. And Turkey always manage to do well – they can cause problems. They don’t have star players, but they do well at tournaments. It’s a difficult group."

Marek Jankulovski (born May 9, 1977 in Ostrava, Czech Republic) is a Czech football left-back of partial Macedonian origin. He currently plays for A.C. Milan of the Italian Serie A and is the current Czech Player of the Year for the 2007/08 season.

His father Pando Jankulovski is a self identifying Macedonian who emigrated to Czechoslovakia from Aegean Macedonia during the Greek Civil War. Marek’s mother is Czech.

Before joining Milan, he played for Baník Ostrava (1994-2000), Napoli (2000-02), and Udinese (2002-05). For the Czech national team, he played in Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup. Jankulovski joined AC Milan from Udinese at the start of the 2005-06 campaign after having a wonderful season with Udinese. Jankulovski struggled to find form in his first season but has been one of Milan’s best players during the 2006-07 season, scoring three goals, including one beautiful 25-yard shot, scored against Livorno. On May 23, 2007, he took part in 2-1 victory in the final of the UEFA Champions League against Liverpool FC. He also scored the second goal of Milan’s victory against FC Sevilla in the 2007 UEFA Super Cup held on August 31, 2007 with a wonderful strike following a pass from Andrea Pirlo.

On May 29th, Jankulovski was named “Czech Player of the Year”, with Petr Cech coming in second.