Holland looked ready to put their clog in it and the sense of despondency and anti-climax was palpable before a late and hotly disputed penalty from Frank de Boer, after his twin brother had his shirt pulled by Jiri Nemec, salvaged this poor performance by the co-hosts.
Twice the woodwork saved Holland in the second half as the Czechs recovered from a shaky start to dominate. From the 19th minute Frank Rijkaard's team managed only one shot on target. Short of ideas and fluency, this was not the stuff of champions.
The Czech coach Jozef Chovanec was outraged at the penalty decision. "It's a scandal. Several players are crying in the dressing room right now, and it doesn't surprise me."
Frank de Boer admitted his team had been lucky. "You need to have luck in a tourna ment so I hope we have had our luck and we can just start playing football."
Holland knew nothing short of victory would do. Long before kick-off all but the Czech end of the stadium had been transformed into an sea of orange, giving it the look of a huge Jaffa plantation. Everything from inflatable clogs to hats and shirts were on show. The pre-match renditions of "We are the champions" left no doubt what was required from the Dutch, who started with Marc Overmars on the bench and Barcelona's Boudewijn Zenden on the left flank.
The Czechs had clearly come with the intention of stifling in midfield, pulling men behind the ball and hitting on the counter-attack, deploying the huge Jan Koller alone up front. Tomas Rosicky stuck close to Clarence Seedorf; Pavel Nedved tried to keep an eye on Edgar Davids.
Davids, though, proved too slippery to be held down by the Lazio man, a more natural offensive player. Inside 25 minutes Nedved had been booked for a foul on his opposite number. And taking their lead from Davids' bursts and passing, and Patrick Kluivert's mobility in attack, Holland poured forward.
They might have been three goals up within 20 minutes but for Pavel Srnicek's agility and one near miss. Srnicek first got down low to deny Dennis Bergkamp after Tomas Repka had blocked a Kluivert shot. Then the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper palmed aside a Kluivert effort and recovered to block Zenden's follow-up. When finally he was beaten by Bergkamp the ball flashed inches wide.
The Czech team hardly looked the third best in the world as the Fifa rankings suggest. Initially they were restricted to scraps of possession but, typically, Holland went off the boil as the half progressed. The Czechs, now using Karel Poborsky to shadow Davids, came more into the match with Nedved shooting over from long range.
The Dutch clearly failed to digest the importance of that warning. Within two minutes of the start of the second half they should have fallen behind. Nedved, free to roam at last, was the creator, outwitting Michael Reiziger down the left flank and crossing to Poborksy at the far post. But in a replay of Paul Gascoigne's famous miss against Germany at Euro 96, the former Manchester United player slid the ball wide from a yard out.
Before long, whistles of derision were pouring down on the Dutch from the stands as the Czechs, showing more ambition, took control. Nedved was now running the game, first pulling the ball back for Koller, whose shot was well saved by Edwin van der Sar, and then bursting through and forcing the keeper to save at his near post. Only the opposite upright denied him a goal in the 57th minute as he outjumped Davids to meet Nemec's cross with a fine header.
This was not what Frank Rijkaard had hoped for in his first competitive match in charge of Holland. But his players seemed to have lost all rhythm and looked too predictable in attack. The woodwork again saved them just after the hour, Koller heading a Poborksy free-kick against the bar. At that stage the Dutch might have settled for a draw.
Holland Czech Rep
6 Attempts on target 3
7 Attempts off target 8
4 Blocked attempts 2
10 Corners 4
0 Offsides 4
26 Fouls 22
2 Yellow cards 3
0 Red cards 1
Possession
66% First Half 34%
50% Second Half 50%
Substitutes Holland R de Boer for Seedorf, 56; Konterman for Stam, 74; Overmars for Zenden, 78. Czech Rep Bejbl for Latal, 69; Kuka for Smicer, 83.
Booked Holland F de Boer, Van Bronkhurst. Czech Rep Poborsky, Nedved, Repka.
Sent off Latal, 90 (while on substitutes' bench).
Referee P Collina (Italy).