What comes to mind when you hear Hamburg?
The city of my heart, I have more acquaintances there than in the Czech Republic. Even after years, I try to keep in touch, and when I can, I like to go to Hamburg. I have three children and my trips are complicated to plan, but I was, for example, in the spring playoff for promotion to the Bundesliga with Stuttgart. What a shame it did not work out.
It is true that in your regular Echo Bundesliga commentary on Sport.cz, you go into great depth when it comes to Hamburg.
I’m trying to keep track. On Friday, I couldn’t miss the derby with St. Pauli, which is always a huge event for the whole city. In addition, this time it was a match between the former and the latter.
Back to the European Championship draw. Are you putting together potential groups in your head?
And you know not even? Because no group can be easy. For the strong French or English, maybe yes, but for the rest of Europe, including the Czech team, no. Football has leveled up a lot, which we already saw in the qualification: Albania advanced from our group, while Poland has to go to the playoffs. You can’t choose.
After all, who would you like for the Czech Republic from the first basket?
More or less anyone. I don’t want it to sound like a cliché, but you can play with anyone. Even with the aforementioned France, which tends to get off to a slower start in tournaments despite their high placements. I would be quite interested in how her confrontation with the Czech Republic would sound.
Even if the national team finished the end of the qualification in a stifling atmosphere and coach Jaroslav Šilhavý resigned after the last match?
Sure, the finish wasn’t ideal, but think of the League of Nations and the solid matches against Spain. The Czech Republic is not a dwarf and I myself do not like it when something is given up in advance. This also applies to teams from the second basket, which are playable in my eyes.
All?
It is a fact that, for example, Austria with captain Alaba from Real would be unpleasant. But the rest could be viable. Paradoxically, the second basket does not seem as strong as our third. It is nice that the national team avoids the Netherlands or Croatia in the group. I also trust the Slovaks.
Seriously?
The Italian coach Calzona faced a lot of criticism after taking over, but in the end the promotion was ahead of schedule. I liked the matches between Slovakia and Portugal, despite the defeats, it was interesting.
What about the fourth bin? To run into Italy, the last champion of Europe, would be a punishment, see?
We don’t need to talk about that at all. The Serbian and Swiss are also of enormous quality. They are a bit of a mystery to me. They have a great team, but they struggled in the qualifiers and there was speculation about the end of coach Yakin, who finally stuck it out.
Isn’t it a disadvantage that the Czech delegation will be drawn without a coach? After Šilhavé’s resignation, the throne is empty.
From a formal point of view, this means nothing for the lot, but it does not look good on the outside. I would not delay the appointment of a new coach until after the New Year. It’s a shame that the new coach won’t be able to decide on an opponent for friendlies before the EURO right after the draw or where he wants to camp during the tournament. These are important details.
Who would you like to see on the national team?
My favorites are the elite league coaches Trpišovský and Prisk. At the same time, I do not expect that they would get permission from Slavia and Sparta to leave for the national team. Another coach from Pilsen, Koubek, comes to mind. Given his age, it probably wouldn’t be a very promising solution, but he would deserve representation for his results.
The previous championship was atypically played in eleven countries and, according to many, lacked the classic tournament atmosphere. Will the EURO be better in Germany?
I was lucky to be in Germany for the 2006 World Cup, which was fantastically organised. I am convinced that it will be even better now, the development will be eighteen years further.
Are you also going to the EURO?
I would like to. It tempts me to come to Hamburg and watch a Czech match. Maybe these two things will come together thanks to the lot. (smiles)
2023-12-02 14:13:00
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