Hamburg – The Czech footballers will enter next year’s European Championship in Germany with a match against the 2016 continental champions Portugal, played for by star striker Cristiano Ronaldo. The other opponents in Group F will be Turkey and the winner of the March play-off C, which will be Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece or Kazakhstan.
It was decided by today’s draw in Hamburg, one of the ten cities where the final tournament will visit. The Czech national team will start on June 18 against Portugal in Leipzig, the next two matches against the playoff winner and Turkey will be played in Hamburg. For the national team, two-thirds of the group has the same form as in 2008, when the Czech team did not advance in competition with Portugal, Turkey and home Switzerland. Tomáš Rosický, the former captain of the national team, took part in the draw.
As in the previous year, 24 countries will participate in the final tournament, which has been divided by lot into six groups of four. The first two teams from each group and the four best teams from third place advance to the knockout stage. The European Championship will begin on June 14 in Munich with a match between Germany and Scotland and culminate a month later with the final duel in Berlin.
“I am relatively satisfied with the draw. It could have turned out worse, mainly we wanted to avoid Italy from the fourth basket, which we succeeded. We know Portugal, we played with them in the League of Nations. It is, of course, the main favorite of the group. We played Turkey in a friendly , a playoff qualifier, we’ll see how it turns out. The group is playable and our goal should of course be the round of 16,” FAČR chairman Petr Fousek, who led a four-member Czech delegation in Hamburg, said in a recording for the media.
The national team did not have a coach in the draw, despite successful qualification and promotion from second place in the group behind Albania, coach Jaroslav Šilhavý decided not to continue with the team. His contract officially expired on Thursday. The management of FAČR is now looking for his successor.
Since the division of the federation, the Czech team has advanced from all European qualifiers and will play in the continental championship for the eighth time in a row. At the championship the year before last, he surprisingly reached the quarter-finals, his maximum in individual history is the silver from 1996. The gold from the last championship is defended by Italy.
UEFA placed the national teams in the baskets according to the results in the qualification, and the Czech team narrowly maintained its position in third out of four. The representatives were sure to avoid former federal partners Slovakia, the Netherlands, Croatia, Scotland and Slovenia. The Czechs finished last in the draw for the third basket, and Rosický drew their name into Group F.
The last time the national team played with Portugal was last year in the elite group A of the League of Nations and scored two defeats 0:2 away and 0:4 at home. The teams will meet at the big event for the first time since 2012, when the favorites from the Iberian Peninsula won 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the Euros in Poland thanks to Ronaldo’s goal. The 38-year-old gunner, who works for the an-Nasr club in Saudi Arabia, holds the absolute national team record with 128 goals in 205 international matches.
Against Portugal, the Czech national team lost four times in a row, since the division of the federation, they only succeeded in the quarter-finals of Euro 1996 in England, where they won 1:0 after a legendary lob by Karel Poborský. In the championship in 2008, they suffered a 1-3 defeat and one of the goals was scored by Ronaldo.
The Czechs have lost their last three matches against Turkey. The last time last year in November, Šilhavé’s selection lost 1:2 in preparation in Gaziantep. With a duel against the Turks, the Czech team will close the group at the Euros for the third time, and in the previous two cases they failed to advance in a direct fight. In the championship in 2016, he lost 0-2 and eight years earlier 2-3 after the opponent turned around a two-goal deficit.
The favorite for play off C is Greece. If it succeeds, it would repeat the fight with the Czech team from the group in 2012. At that time, Michal Bílek’s team won 2:1. On the other hand, in the memorable semi-final of Euro 2004, the Greeks beat the Czech team 1:0 after extra time and unexpectedly won the gold.
Only in the fourth basket did Italy figure. The defenders of the trophy ended up in the paper-hardest Group B with Spain, last year’s World Cup bronze medalist Croatia and Czech qualifier Albania.
FAČR collects a premium of 9.25 million euros (225 million crowns) just for the participation of the national team in the championship. The national team can receive additional funding for tournament results. Ticket sales for Czech fans will start this evening.
Votes after the draw:
Tomáš Souček (Czech Republic captain): “I am very satisfied with the draw. The biggest one is probably the fact that we will play the first match against Portugal in Leipzig, which for a Czech fan is probably the best place it could be. It is close to the border, so I believe there will be a lot of support. As for the teams , we know the two very well. We played Portugal and Turkey recently. We have to wait for the third team.”
Petr Fousek (Chairman of FAČR): “I am relatively satisfied with the draw. It could have turned out worse, mainly we wanted to avoid Italy from the fourth basket, which we succeeded. We know Portugal, we played with them in the League of Nations. It is, of course, the main favorite of the group. We played Turkey in a friendly , a play-off qualifier, we’ll see how it goes. The group is playable and of course our goal should be the round of 16. Leipzig is a beautiful destination because it’s close to the Czech border. Plus with the group favorite. Hamburg is also not at the end of the world. I think , that all the places in Germany provide fantastic infrastructure in terms of stadiums and facilities. The fans will definitely be interested in that, they are attractions.”
Michal Sadílek (Czech midfielder): “I think Portugal is the main favorite of the group. Turkey is also on the rise at the moment. We will play in beautiful stadiums. We will play the first match in Leipzig, which is right next to the border. So I hope that the Czech fans will come to cheer us on. And we will fight for promotion from the group.”
David Zima (defender of the Czech Republic): “I am satisfied with the draw. I had two favorites from the first basket, either Germany or Portugal. So I am happy that at least one of the baskets gave me the opponent I wanted. I am glad that we will be able to face Portugal again. From the second basket, we caught Turkey, with whom we had the opportunity to compete in November last year. It is a very high-quality team, so I am looking forward to the confrontation. I do not have a favorite from the fourth basket and the playoffs.”
Erich Brabec (technical director of FAČR): “Portugal is the clear favorite and I think that we will share the second or third place with other opponents. The preparatory camps have been pre-selected. Now it depends on what decision we make in the end. I believe that we will choose the best for the team.”
Roberto Martínez (Portugal coach): “I am generally satisfied with the draw. Group F starts last, we have a few extra days to prepare. In this format, up to three teams can advance from the group, the subsequent playoffs are already unpredictable. The Czech Republic is currently without a coach, which at this stage is a bit a mystery. But I know their team well, they have quality players. Turkey won the qualifying group ahead of Croatia and Wales, they are also a strong opponent.”
Mehmet Büyükeksi (President of the Turkish Association): “The group is similar to the one from 2008, when the Czech Republic and Portugal were also in it. I hope we can achieve something like 2008 or even better. Portugal is a big country in football, we have always lost to them in preparation . But recently we have been able to win in Germany after 72 years, for the first time we will participate in the tournament as the winner of the qualifying group. We have one of the youngest teams, I hope our players will have a good season in the clubs in the spring. Another advantage is that the tournament is organized Germany. There is a huge Turkish minority there. I believe our fans will fill the stadiums and be our twelfth player.”
Hamit Altintop (Turkey Association Board Member Responsible for the National Team): “Portugal is very strong, the Czech Republic will also go into the championship in a good mood. The advantage for us is that we will have a team from playoff C. Our goal is to advance from the group.”
Zlatko Dalič (Coach of Croatia): “It is clearly the most difficult group (with Italy, Spain and Albania). But we know our strength and we know what our goal is – to go through the group.”
Gareth Southgate (England coach): “We have to be careful not to underestimate anything. Serbia are an unpredictable team with centre-forward Mitrovic. Slovenia was one of the first opponents I faced as England manager. I will always remember (goalkeeper) Joe Hart’s save that day. If had he not done that, I might not have been the coach of the English national team.”
Julian Nagelsmann (Germany coach): “I know several players from our opponents’ teams. I have coached several of them. I am especially happy that I will be able to meet again with the players I coached in Leipzig. Our opponents (Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland) are not easy, but we certainly want to to advance from the group.”
UEFA Euro 2024 Germany Group Draw:
Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland.
Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania.
Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England.
Group D: winner of play-off A, Netherlands, Austria, France.
Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, winner of playoff B.
Group F: Turkey, winner of play off C, Portugal, Czech Republic.
Program of the Czech team in the group:
June 18 (Leipzig): Czech Republic – Portugal,
June 22 (Hamburg): Czech Republic – winner of playoff C.
June 26: (Hamburg): Czech Republic – Turkey.
Sports Europe football draw OPENER
2023-12-02 21:22:47
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