Preview: Czech Republic - Portugal

20Jun 2012

EURO2012

The first quarter final of Euro 2012 will be between the Czech Republic and Portugal at the National Stadium in Warsaw. Both team lost their opening games, but have since rallied the troops and earned a chance to fight for one place of the semi-finals, where they will meet either Spain or France.

It was a bad start of Czech Republic at the beginning of the tournament, being thrashed 4-1 by Russia. Their second match's result was better beating Greece 2-1. That set up a crucial game against co-hosts Poland and they managed to spoil the party with a 1-0 win, knocking Poland out. Petr Jiracek scored the lone goal of the game; his two goals in three group games propelled the Czechs to the summit of group. Thanks to this goal they won the group A two points clear of Greece. The Czech's have surprised all and sundry with their run to the quarter-finals, especially given how they started the tournament. Their first match was catastrophic, with the Russian's running rampant, helped in no small part by the poor defending by the Czechs. They managed to bounce back though, with an amazing start against the Greeks putting them on course for a 2-1 victory, while their last gorup-match was their better games, they were tactic nas patient. As a reward Czech Republic faces an easier match-up from the Group of Death: group B runner-up Portugal.

Portugal's road to the knockout round wasn't easy. Portugal also lost their opening game 1-0 against Germany but then won a five-goal thriller 3-2 against Denmark. The Seleccao were far from impressive in their second game, but somehow managed to record a valuable victory and thus improved their chances before the final group game. This meant they had everything to play for in their final match against the Netherlands and it all looked to be going wrong when the Holland took the lead. Team's captain Cristiano Ronaldo rescued the day with a brace, one in each half. He'd had a poor tournament by his standards but now looks to be back on form. Portugal came second in the group, three points behind Germany. Paulo Bento's team wasn't all that sharp to begin with after all, but they did catch enough breaks to make it to the tournament's second round. Their lack of an out-and-out striker may come back to haunt them. Their performance against the Dutch was impressive, and they were fully deserving of their victory that was built on the back of their midfield dominance. If Raul Meireles and Joao Moutinho can get into the game early it may be a long evening for the Czechs.

News:

Team's chances will be seriously damaged if influential midfielder Tomas Rosicky fails to recover in time to face Portugal, as his Achilles injury looks more serious than first thought.

With no fresh selection worries to report, coach Paulo Bento is likely to stick to the same side that started all three group games.

Probably starting line up:

Czech Republic: Cech - Gebre Selassie, Sivok, Kadlec, Limbersky - Hubschmann, Plasil - Jiracek, Kolar, Pilar - Baros (4-2-3-1).

Portugal: Patricio - Pereira, Pepe, Alves, Coentrao - Moutinho, Veloso, Meireles - Nani, Postiga, Ronaldo (4-3-3).

Prediction:

The first quarter-final is sure to provide an interesting spectacle. The Czech Republic tend to set up in a very similar way to Portugal, with a lone striker flanked by two advanced wingers. The only difference is that they like to play with one attacking midfielder sitting behind the front line, occupying a more advanced position that any of Portugal's midfield three. This playmaker would be Tomas Rosicky, but the midfielder was forced to return to Prague for treatment on an Achilles injury that he picked up against Greece. Should Rosicky not recover in time, the Czech Republic are likely to line-up like they did against Poland in their last group game, with Daniel Kolar coming in to occupy a central midfield role. Miguel Veloso is the Portugal defensive midfielder, who has been one of Portugal's most consistent performers this tournament, helping Portugal to qualify by snuffing out Mesut Özil, Christian Eriksen and Wesley Sneijder. If he can do the same sort of spoiling job against the Czech Republic, there are no surprises for Portugal.

All four of the Czech Republic's goals so far have come from their wingers, with Petr Jirasek and Vaclav Pilar. Both players have pace and look to cut inside towards goal, so it will be vital that the likes of Raul Meireles and João Moutinho do not leave Fábio Coentrão and João Pereira too isolated, especially with both full-backs having to get through. The Czech Republic may have become more defensively solid as the tournament has gone on, particularly with the recall of Tomas Hubschman into the holding role after the debacle of their first game. If Portugal's midfield can repeat the trick and ship the ball out to Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani as quickly as possible then the two wingers could well wreak havoc.

The Selecção are clear favourites to progress, I expect them to have just enough to see off the Czech's here and book a potential meeting with France or Spain in the final four.