With the reminiscence of final time’s early exit far behind, the Czech Republic is bringing a rebuilt crew to this 12 months’s European Championship. The Czechs have certified for the continental match for the seventh straight time, superior to the highest tier of the Nations League and began properly of their 2022 World Cup qualifying marketing campaign with a 1-1 draw towards top-ranked FIFA crew Belgium. The future didn’t look so shiny 5 years in the past. The crew completed final in its Euro 2016 group with just one level from a 2-2 draw with Croatia and losses to Spain and Turkey. And the worst was but to come. The crew’s main stars, goalkeeper Petr Cech and midfielder Tomáš Rosický, had been amongst a number of mainstay gamers who retired. The failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia inevitably adopted and additional deepened the disaster.
The final straw was a humiliating 5-1 loss to Russia in a global pleasant in September 2018.
Urgent motion was wanted to flip issues round and Jaroslav Šilhavý, who took over as coach, turned out to be the appropriate alternative. A former participant, Šilhavý had been an assistant to coach Karel Bruckner from 2002-08 at a time when the Czechs had been identified for their free-flowing attacking soccer, serving to the crew attain the semifinals at Euro 2004.
Unlike Bruckner, Šilhavý doesn’t have the celebrities of the previous like Rosický, Pavel Nedved or Karel Poborský, however he nonetheless has gamers who could make a distinction. The core of his crew is shaped by former and present gamers from Slavia Prague, a crew that simply clinched its third straight Czech league title and has reached the quarterfinals of the Europa League twice within the final three years.
Two of them, midfielder Tomáš Soucek and defender Vladimír Coufal – now teammates at West Ham within the Premier League – are key names on Silhavy’s squad together with one other former Slavia midfielder, Alex Král from Spartak Moscow.
But two different Slavia gamers, usually common starters on the nationwide crew will miss the match for completely different causes.
Midfielder Lukáš Provod, who scored a purpose to assist Slavia Prague knock Leicester out of the Europa League on the King Power Stadium on Feb. 26 and scored one other purpose towards Belgium on March 27, has a critical proper knee harm.
Ondrej Kúdela, in the meantime, is interesting towards a 10-match ban for racially abusing a Black opponent in a Europa League match.
The Czechs start their Euro 2020 marketing campaign on June 14 towards Scotland in Glasgow. It was in the identical metropolis that Kúdela was discovered to have racially abused Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara on March 18.
Kúdela acknowledged swearing at Kamara however denied utilizing racist language.
The Czechs may also face Croatia in Glasgow in Group D earlier than enjoying England at Wembley Stadium in London. They beat the English 2-1 in October 2019, the primary loss for England in European or World Cup qualifying in 10 years.
Another Czech participant to watch will probably be Adam Hložek. The 18-year-old Sparta Prague ahead grew to become the youngest participant to rating a hat trick within the Czech league. In solely 19 league video games this season, Hložek scored 15 targets and added seven assists. In the final match of the season, Hložek scored 4 targets within the first half in a 6-1 rout of Brno earlier than being substituted at halftime.
In 2016, then-Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba didn’t take striker Patrik Schick to France as a result of, at 20, he appeared to be too younger and inexperienced. Šilhavý is unlikely to make the identical mistake within the case of Hložek, who has drawn curiosity Liverpool, Leipzig, Dortmund and AC Milan.
Euro 2020: Czech Republic factfile
Honours: 1976 European Championship (as Czechoslovakia)
Previous Euro efficiency: Played in any respect Euro tournaments since gaining independence in 1993. Best efficiency: runners-up in 1996 (as Czech Republic), semi-finals in 2004
FIFA rating: 40
Nickname: Narodak (National Team)
Coach: Jaroslav Silhavy
Star gamers: Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Darida, Vladimir Coufal
Main golf equipment: Slavia Prague, Sparta Prague, Viktoria Plzen
How did they qualify: Second in Group A
Euro 2020 fixtures:
vs Scotland – June 14, 6.30pm
vs Croatia – June 18, 9.30pm
vs England – June 23, 12.30am
26-man squad:
Goalkeepers: Ales Mandous (Sigma Olomouc), Jiri Pavlenka (Werder Bremen/GER), Tomas Vaclik (Sevilla/ESP)
Defenders: Jan Boril (Slavia Prague), Jakub Brabec (Viktoria Plzen), Ondrej Celustka (Sparta Prague), Vladimir Coufal (West Ham/ENG), Pavel Kaderabek (Hoffenheim/GER), Tomas Kalas (Bristol City/ENG), Ales Mateju (Brescia/ITA), David Zima (Slavia Prague)
Midfielders: Antonin Barak (Verona/ITA), Vladimir Darida (Hertha Berlin/GER), Adam Hlozek (Sparta Prague), Tomas Holes (Slavia Prague), Jakub Jankto (Sampdoria/ITA), Alex Kral (Spartak Moscow/RUS), Lukas Masopust (Slavia Prague), Jakub Pesek (Slovan Liberec), Michal Sadilek (Slovan Liberec), Tomas Soucek (West Ham/ENG), Petr Sevcik (Slavia Prague)
Forwards: Michael Krmencik (PAOK/GRE), Tomas Pekhart (Legia Warsaw/POL), Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Matej Vydra (Burnley/ENG)
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