Czech coach Vrba's emotional return to Plzen

Almost a year after stepping down as the most successful coach in FC Viktoria Plzeň's history, Pavel Vrba returns to his former club this week seeking to continue the Czech Republic's perfect start to UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying.

It was in December 2013 – after the conclusion of his second UEFA Champions League group stage campaign with Plzeň – that Vrba took charge of the national side, drawing a line under a five-year spell at the helm that yielded two First League titles and a Czech Cup. On Sunday, he will preside over a sold-out fixture at a stadium he knows so well, the Doosan Arena, aiming to make it 12 points out of 12 at the expense of fellow Group A leaders Iceland.

"Of course, I'm very much looking forward to coming back – I spent five marvellous years there," said Vrba, who has invited supporters to watch his team's workout on the eve of the match. "I hope the atmosphere will be similarly positive and the fans will support us in the same way. It's quite unusual to open the last training session, but international games are not held in Plzen that often so we wanted to do our supporters a favour."

Václav Pilař is one of the Plzeň players©Getty Images

Those fans will back a squad with a strong Plzeň accent – of the 22, five play for the Czech league leaders, while midfielder Vladimír Darida will make his first return since leaving for German Bundesliga outfit SC Freiburg in the summer. "Like all the boys from Plzeň, I can't wait," explained Darida. "We know that for our coach it will be a very special night. Hopefully it will be another great game to remember."

Like the Czech Republic, Iceland have also surprisingly beaten 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists the Netherlands during their first three qualifiers. "Who would have said in September that this would be a game between two teams with nine points?" mused captain Tomáš Rosický, part of the XI that lost 3-1 to the Nordic nation when the countries last met, in September 2001.

"Look at their results in the last World Cup qualification campaign [when Iceland reached the play-offs, losing to Croatia]. Now they have not conceded a goal. They are going to be very interesting and difficult opposition."

The match will be former AC Sparta Praha midfielder Rosický's first in the western city of Plzen. "I have never played there. I am curious about what kind of atmosphere the fans will create," said the Arsenal FC man.

The Czechs won in Astana last time out©AFP/Getty Images

Aside from the opportunity to serenade Vrba, there is another bonus for the locals – one that they have the 50-year-old and his players to thank for, Vrba having won a bet with a Plzen brewery that his side would accrue at least four points from their October qualifiers in Turkey (a 2-1 win) and Kazakhstan (4-2).

As a result, 10,000 beers will be handed out to fans leaving the stadium on Sunday. They hope to use them to toast yet another victory for Vrba's upwardly mobile team.