Fight for everything. The lion cubs want to gain control and keep their chance at Euro – Sport.cz

The cards are clearly dealt in the main group before the final games. The Czechs need to win in Wales and then at home to Lithuania on Tuesday and are likely to be dependent on the Danes’ success against Iceland. Otherwise, it will be clear that the Lions will not even be in the playoffs, so they will not be at the tournament, which will be hosted by Slovakia next year.

“We all know why we play. About everything. We need six points and then, of course, hope,” striker and captain Václav Sejk understands. “I believe we will be able to beat the opponent and more to score goals, which will give us three points,” said Suchopárek before Wales.

There is a lot at stake in Wales too. This is the last major duel for him in the qualification. Even a point will guarantee him at least a play-off, where the second unit of the group of five will advance. So the meeting, which starts on Friday at 18:30 and will be broadcast by ČT sport, will have an extraordinary cost.

“It’s good for me, I like games like that. We know we have to win. There is nothing to wait for. The team is built to control it. We want to force the opponent to make mistakes. The pressure will be on us, but I believe we have the experience to handle the game,” said Sejk.

The Czech twenty one has qualified for the European Championship four times out of the last five attempts. She only missed the 2019 tournament in Italy. According to Suchopárek, the pressure on the team is the same as it was at the beginning of the qualification. “Something we succeeded, some things we didn’t. We have assessed the situation, nothing changes,” he said.

Sejk is one of the players who remember Euro 2023. The lion cubs lost to England then, but then they beat Germany. In the main game for promotion from the group, apparently also due to a large distribution, they lost 0:1 against Israel.

“I have been saying since the beginning of the qualification that my biggest goal is to progress to the final tournament. I don’t think at all that we shouldn’t be there. If there is an opportunity, I won’t think about anything else,” said Sejk, briefly returning to the 0:5 debate in Denmark in September.

“It was a slap in the face, but we had moments in the first half when we could have turned the game on our side. Unfortunately, our quality in the final stage was not so. I strongly believe it will be different with Wales,” said Polish forward Zaglębie Lubin.

The 21-year-old had to deal with a number of last-minute personnel changes. Perhaps the main one was the naming of Slavia goalkeeper Antonín Kinski to the senior national team. “For us, it means that someone else will catch up. Nothing more, nothing less,” says Suchopárek.

Jiří Borek from Vyškov, Lukáš Horníček from Braga and Tadeáš Stoppen from Olomouc are currently in the team. Suchopárek did not want to reveal who will start against Wales. “We dealt with it after the announcement of the A team. We had decided 60 percent. We were waiting for training with the coach of the goalkeeper Petr Kouba, who recommends the nomination. Everyone looks good,” he said.