“Unpredictable” the watchword as Czechs prepare for Euros start
The 2024 European Football Championship gets underway in Germany on Friday and among the two dozen nations taking part are Czechia. But what are the Czechs’ chances of reaching the knockout stages, given that their group also includes Portugal, Greece and Turkey? That’s just one question I put to football journalist David Čermák.
“That’s quite difficult to say, because as the new national team manager, Ivan Hašek, says, he always wants to be unpredictable for opponents – and I think that’s what the team really is [laughs]; it is very unpredictable.
“I hope I’m not wrong, but we should have the youngest squad of all the teams participating in the Euros – just around 25 years of age.
“Also the manager said several times that his main goal is the World Cup in 2026. So it feels like he wants to see the young players in tough matches, wants them to feel the atmosphere of a big tournament and then build a team for the World Cup.
“But still of course people here have at least some expectations from the team, and I think to get out of the group is considered an obligation, maybe.
“Because everybody expects the team to beat at least Georgia, who are the outsiders of the tournament. And [laughs] anything more than getting out of the group, I think, would be a success for this team.”
You mentioned Ivan Hašek, who took over as manager for the second time in January. How is he doing so far as Czech manager?
“Well he’s doing quite well, because he’s won all the matches. They’ve played four matches so far in the preparation and he won everything.
“But the style that the team plays is definitely not the best. Sometimes you see some trouble, especially in defence.
“As he says, it’s unpredictable, because the team is not performing the best, but maybe they are still hiding something for the tournament and they don’t want to be predictable for the opponents.
“So we will see. I think the first game in the tournament will show us how strong the team really is.”
If they lose the first game, if they lose against Portugal, would that put them in a difficult position to advance, do you think?
“I don’t think so, because I think that everybody here is expecting them to lose actually [laughs], because Portugal is such a strong team with great individuals.
“We just have to be realistic: We don’t have the kind of players to compete with Portugal.
“We could beat them once in 10 games, maybe, we could be lucky, but I don’t think people really expect the team to beat Portugal.
“They more expect them to beat Georgia and maybe they can beat Turkey, so they still have two matches to get some points and to get out of the group stage.
“So I don’t think if they lose against Portugal it will be a tragedy. No, it won’t.”
Maybe they should bring back Poborský [who scored the winning goal against Portugal at Euro ’96] for that game.
“Definitely [laughs]. That would be good, because we are lacking players like Karel Poborský these days.
“I think we don’t have a lot of technical players who are good at one-on-ones. Yes, he would be very useful for this team.”
For people who don’t follow Czech football so closely, who are the star men of the team? Who are the top players for the Czechs?
“Of course it’s Patrik Schick, the striker. I think that everybody remembers him for that goal against Scotland at Euro 2020, actually in 2021.
“He is capable of big things, but he really needs some good support as well. And I think that could be a problem, because as I said it lacks more technical players, players who can dribble, who are strong at one-on-ones.
“We have some, like [Václav] Černý, Adam Hložek, Matěj Jurásek, but that’s actually it. The others are mostly athletic, hard-working players.
“Maybe we can do something from set pieces. That’s why it could be interesting to watch the captain, Tomáš Souček, and also the defender Ladislav Krejčí.
“They are both excellent and Krejčí especially is one to watch. Right now he is negotiating a transfer from Sparta Prague to Spain – maybe Girona, maybe Betis [he subsequently signed for Girona] – so he could be interesting player to watch.
“For people who don’t know the Czech team that closely, he is the name to watch.”
The championship is of course taking place in Germany, a neighbouring country. What does having the tournament so close mean for Czech fans?
“That’s definitely a big benefit for the team and for the fans as well. The Euro is just across the border and there is an expectation that many fans will travel to Germany to support the team.
“Tickets are not cheap and also Hamburg, where we play two matches in the group stage, is quite far away from the Czech Republic, but people will take this opportunity, definitely.
“A lot of them will travel to Germany and of course that will help the players a lot. I think they can feel at home with all this support.
“So it can be a great benefit and it can even help to achieve the goal, which as I said is to advance from the group stage to the knock-out stage.”
The Czechs play Portugal on Tuesday before taking on Georgia the following Saturday and then facing the Turks four days later.
