The coach of the national football team under the age of 21, Karel Krejčí, believes that after today’s 2-0 victory in Greece, the Czech team will continue to be lucky. By winning the last round of qualification, the 21 have kept up in the game of promotion, but they need favorable results from other teams.
The winners of the nine groups and the five best teams from the second places will advance to the Euro, but the results with the last one are not included in the evaluation of the teams from the six-member groups. The Czechs currently lead the table by three points ahead of Scotland, which, however, is good for Tuesday’s match in Greece and a better mutual balance with Krejčí’s selection.
“I am happy that we managed it. It was not easy. The first half was even and then it affected the exclusion at the end of the half,” said Krejčí. His team played a power play from the 41st minute, similar to the home match, but while last October he saved a 1: 1 draw, today he managed to use it to win.
Behind the win, the Czechs also directed a half-time rotation, when Granečný and Ostrák replaced Havelka with Plechatý. “We had to get involved and change the line-up because we played against ten. The substitutions helped and revived a lot,” Krejčí said.
Twenty-one took the lead after a penalty ordered for a foul on Granečný. Šašinka had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch – his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. This time Bucha stood at the ball and sent the guests into the lead. He then added a Drchal fuse in the settings.
“I didn’t even look at the penalties because I was nervous. Today the trend is for the penalties to be repeated, and a hat down in front of the referee that he went for it,” said Krejčí. “And I have to praise Pavel (Buchu). It can be seen that he gained self-confidence, took responsibility and changed the penalty,” he added.
The Czechs secured second place in the table by winning, but if Scotland lost in Greece on Tuesday, they would be in first place. “Today’s win is a sweet reward at the end of qualifying and now we will wait for the other matches. We have taken the first step, we cannot influence the others. We will see how it turns out, but I believe we will be lucky,” said Krejčí.
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