Match Preview: Greece vs Czech Republic

Greece and Czech Republic are set to square off against each other in the first game of the evening at the Municipal stadium here at Wroclaw, Poland. Group A is delicately poised at the moment with the Russians leading the pack with 3 points, hosts Poland and Greece are tied second with a point apiece and the Czechs are at the bottom. Greek coach Frenando Santos saw his side stage a spirited comeback against Poland in their last match, coming back from a goal down to draw with a man less. The Czechs on the other hand, were taught a footballing lesson by Advocaat’s Russia and go into the match knowing that anything less than a victory might draw the curtains early for their Euro campaign.

Petr Cech might have found it extremely unusual to let in four goals but he is confident that his team have learnt their lessons and are fully prepared for the Greece test.

“The lessons we learned were not to make unnecessary mistakes and to play much more aggressively,” said Cech.

“I think the anger has changed into determination. Determination to fix the bad start we had in the tournament,” he added.

“We felt the disappointment immediately afterwards, for sure. We did not succeed in any way in that first match, but we know we have another 180 minutes to play to allow us to qualify for the quarter-finals. So we’re determined to do just that.”

Meanwhile, Greek coach Santos does not believe that today’s match is going to be any easier than the previous one. He is confident that Bilek’s men will be a difficult side to play against.

“It changes nothing that they lost against Russia. They’re compact, and have a lot of pace,” he said.

“In the game against Russia, the Czechs had the upper hand in the opening 20-25 minutes. I think they showed their qualities, despite their 4-1 loss.”

One thing that hasn’t changed much about the Greece side since their euphoric 2004 Euro win is their ability to fight back. Having gone down to ten men against Poland in the first half itself, very few would have thought they would actually come perilously close to a win, let alone a draw. Had it not been for a rather weak attempt from Karagounis who is otherwise so dependable, Greece could have been joint leaders of the group. But today, Santos will have a few selection problems sue to suspensions and injuries. Defender Sokratis, whose sending off was a shocker, would be unavailable and Avraam Papadopoulos will miss through a torn cruciate ligament. Giorgios Fotakis is also a doubt for the match after he suffered a thigh injury last outing.

The Czechs started the tournament in disappointing fashion and would still be reeling from their 4-1 defeat to the Russians. Although there aren’t any injuries to bother their coach Michal Bilek, it would be interesting to see if he does go in with two strikers instead of one, something which he prefers to do. Milan Baros struggled against the Russian defenders, often isolated and outmuscled. Pilar is a young exciting talent and would once again be key to the Czech coach’s plans. Kadlec struggled poorly after he was used as a make shift left back and is expected to play in his more usual role at the center of defense with David Limbersky taking up the vacant spot. Tomas Rosicky is still their key man and it was pretty evident in the last match as every attack seemed to originate from the Czech captain.

The Czechs have history on their side as they have five of their meetings with the Greeks and lost just once. Their only defeat having come at the Euro 2004 which paved the way for Greece to reach the final and become eventual champions. Recent form? Well…

Greece

Chalkias; Torosidis, Papadopoulos, Malezas, Holebas; Katsouranis, Karagounis, Maniatis; Salpingidis, Gekas, Samaras

Czech Republic

Cech; Gebre Selassie, Kadlec, Hubnik, Limbersky; Plasil, Rosicky, Rezek, Pilar,Jiracek; Baros

The Greek camp will be cursing themselves for not having come away with all three points at Warsaw and will have to dig deep today against the Czechs given the number of players unavailable. The Czechs will have to find out the wrongs and try to be more adventurous right from the beginning. Their defense against Russia was shambolic and they have to be better than that today if they are to win against an ever so spirited Greek side. A defeat will inevitably mean their elimination while the Greeks will still have a chance if they manage to sneak in a draw and hope Russia do them a favor in the other Group A fixture today. The Czechs will have to be inventive and look to score the opening goal today. That will certainly ease the nerves a bit and perhaps set the tone for a wonderful contest, from a neutral point of view. It would be unfair to judge them by the scoreline in their last match as the Russians are certainly a decent outfit and one of the dark horses of the tournament. Prediction in football is perhaps the most difficult job one can be asked to do, but I do feel the Czechs won’t go out just yet. A 2-1 win for Bilek’s men at Wroclaw is my guess!