This was the third time The Weekend of Champions was organized and it was the second time that Bohemians 1905 have won this prestigious indoor tournament! The tournament was played on the weekend of January 10.-11., 2009. Organizers invited best Czech teams, including Prague teams of Sparta and Slavia. Invitation was also extended, and accepted, by two foreign clubs - Slovan Bratislava, the leading team of the Slovak 1.league and Austria Vienna, a multiple champion of Austria.
After winning the inaugural tournament in 2007, Bohemians repeated the same feat this year. Once again, the only second league team in the tournament got the job done. For their trouble, players of Bohemians collected cool half a million Czech crowns from the organizers. To make it even sweeter, young Bohemians star, Jan Morávek, was chosen the MVP of the tournament while his team mate, Radek Sňozík, was voted the best goaltender.
Group games:
Bohemians 1905 - Slovan Liberec 2:2 (1:1)
Goals: 12. Rychlík, 24. Ibragimov - 8. Gebre Selassie, 22. Smetana
The tie reflected well goings on on the field.
Bohemians 1905 - Austria Vienna 8:3 (3:2)
Goals: 3., 13. and 16. Strnad, 10. a 23. Škoda, 20. Morávek, 25. and 30. Adam - 5. Dimič, 11. Krammer, 24. Sun
Austrian guests could keep pace only in the first half. The second half was played under Bohemians control.
Bohemians 1905 - Slavia Praha 2:2 (2:1)
Goals: 6. Morávek, 15. Moravec - 9. Šenkeřík, 24. Ivana
Very exciting game that all the fans must have enjoyed. Playing against the leading team of the Czech first league, Bohemians achieved the result that guaranteed them the semi-finals.
Semi-finals:
Bohemians 1905 - AC Sparta Praha 7:2 (3:1)
Goals: 3. Augustín, 5. and 23. Škoda, 10. Adam, 19. Moravec, 22. Růžička, 26. Sňozík (penalty). - 7. Zeman, 29. Matušovič (penalty)
The semi-finals were easier than one would expect. Bohemians dismantled the mighty Sparta without a problem. One would expect that in a contained space the football qualities of Sparta would prevail, but the opposite was true. Bohemians looked better; their individual and team skills were superior.
Finals:
Mladá Boleslav - Bohemians 1905 3:7 (2:4)
Goals: 3. and 30. Dittrich, 13. Opiela - 2., 14. and 20. Strnad, 4. Janek, 11. Adam, 23. and 26. Škoda
Even the currently second team of the Czech first league was not a serious opponent for hot Kangaroos. Miloslav Strnad crowned his return to Bohemians by a hat trick, but the whole team played very well.
There was a precious little time for celebrations - following the tournament, players of Bohemians travelled to a training camp for physical conditioning.
