I told the guys in Slavia that the quarterfinals were final for them

today 12:01
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Before EURO 2020, footballers from the Czech Republic and Denmark were not expected to shuffle cards in the elimination phase, but it is these two teams that surprisingly form a quarter-final pair.

They will meet on Saturday at 18.00 CEST at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, with the winner competing in the semifinals at Wembley against the advancing from the duel Ukraine – England. The match will be led by Dutch referees led by main Björn Kuipers.

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The Danes absolutely failed to enter the European Championships, which started at home in Copenhagen. After losing to Finland (0: 1) and Belgium (1: 2), they were in danger of being eliminated in the basic group, but in the end they only needed to win Russia (4: 1) to advance.

He advanced his performance in the round of 16 and in Amsterdam they crushed Wales 4-0 thanks to two goals by Kasper Dolberg. Now they have the opportunity to break into the top four. The Danes dream of repeating the spirited ride of their predecessors from the 1992 European Championships, where they sensationally won the title. At that time, they did not even have to start at the championship at the championship, and after replacing Yugoslavia, they shocked football Europe.

“It’s a chance we may never have again.” the coach said before the quarterfinal duel Kasper Hjulmand. “It’s a chance we’ve been incredibly hard on. It’s our childhood dream. There is a lot of work behind many people. We want to get the most out of it and do our best. We will prepare well for the match and see how far we will fight our way through this tournament. “

Severanov was shocked by the collapse of Christian Eriksen’s support in the first EURO match, but the team managed to get up in difficult times and coach Hjulmand pulled aces like Mikkel Damsgaard or Kasper Dolberg from his sleeve at critical moments. And the coach said at the beginning of the week that he had not finished his surprising moves.

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Young man Damsgaard he shone especially in the duel with Russia, in which he scored a wonderful first goal. “The match with Wales was the biggest in my career. The next fight will be even more important. With each new encounter, it’s crazier to me,He admitted in an interview with uefa.com.

Hjulmand should have a complete staff except for Eriksen, although striker Yussuf Poulsen will probably not be able to play the whole match due to health reasons. Before that, the Danes last played in the quarterfinals at a big tournament in 2004, when in the quarterfinals in Porto they lost 0: 3 to the Czech Republic, led by Pavel Neddom, Jan Koller and two-goal Milan Baroš.

“I remember watching the match in Copenhagen Square. At that time, we all believed that we could easily advance through the Czech Republic. However, the whole thing turned into a terrible loss and, as I recall, on a very sad rainy day in Copenhagen, “ the defender recalled Mathias Jörgensen.

The Czechs advanced to the eighth finals from third place in the basic group and shocked the favored Netherlands in it. In Budapest, they took full advantage of the exclusion of Matthijs de Ligt and triumphed with the interventions of Tomáš Holeš and Patrik Schick, who increased his account to four goals. Before the duel with coach Denmark, coach Jaroslav Šilhavý had a fundamental dilemma – whether to keep the winning line-up from the round of 16 or to return the healed captain Vladimír Darida to the game.

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Antonín Barák represented Darid against the “oranjes”, Jan Bořil, who was kicked out and injured, was replaced on the left edge of the defense by Pavel Kadeřábek, and Petr Ševčík played in the middle of Jakub Jankt on Wednesday. All three took a great chance. “I’ll be ready again.” promised Shoemaker. “I believed I had something to give the team and I felt very good in the match,” he noted Barák. “And will I or Vlad Darid play? I believe we can play together. The most important thing for both of us is to succeed. ”

Both opponents have the same weapons – team spirit and high work ethic. “Diamonds can split diamonds. Both teams rely on teamwork and intense intrusions into open spaces. Both try to respond to the opponent’s higher individual skills with these strengths. We have very similar weapons. “ confirmed by the assistant coach of the Czech Republic Jiří Chytrý. “We watched the Danes’ matches in the tournament and we know how they play. They have a very balanced team and play in an interesting style that is pleasing to the eye of the viewer, ” evaluated the advantages of the opponent Antonín Barák.

However, Czech footballers will not be able to count on the support of their fans in Baku. Strict anti-pandemic measures to enter Azerbaijan have caused weak interest from supporters. Even players were not so attracted to such a long journey.

“You fly such a long distance to Baku just to play in front of empty stands. This will be in complete contrast to the atmosphere we experienced in Budapest. We’re all sad about it. Well, things are happening this year and there is nothing we can do about it. “ he sighed Ševčík.

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Schick is the only four-goal scorer to continue in the tournament. He is thus the main aspirant for the best gunner of the tournament. He has a chance to become the second Czech after Milan Baroš, who will win the crown of the king of shooters for the EURO. “Of course, we would be very happy if Páťa won the Golden Football. We will do everything we can to help him get it. ” declared Ševčík.

He embellished the mood before the quarterfinals Alexander Bah, Danish defender in the service of Prague’s Slavia. He did not fit into the Danish nomination for the European Championships, but in an interview for the Ekstra Bladet server he “digged” into the opponent: “I have already told the guys in Slavia that the quarterfinals are final for them. They know it well. “

EURO 2020 – quarterfinals: