23:00, June 12, Greece - Czech Republic: Czechs are cornered

A 1-4 defeat to Russia in the opening match left the Czech Republic with no way back. Meanwhile, a draw against host Poland left Greece more sad than happy. At Municipal today will be a ruthless battle between two teams with a glorious past, but facing a cruel reality.

The situation of Greece and the Czech Republic now is completely different from 8 years ago, when they clashed in the semi-finals of EURO 2004. At that time, the team of veteran coach Karel Bruckner was a mix of experienced stars from all over Europe such as Pavel Nedved (Juve), Jan Koller (Dortmund), Smicer (Liverpool), Galasek (Ajax) and young talents such as Petr Cech (Rennes), Milan Baros (Liverpool), Rosicky (Arsenal). They topped the group that also contained Germany and the Netherlands, with 3 wins from 3 matches before crushing Denmark 3-0 in the quarter-finals.



Who has more headaches, Fernando Santos or Michal Bilek? - Getty Images

But in the seemingly unequal confrontation at Dragao at that time, the Czech Republic became the one to swallow their anger when they unexpectedly fell to Greece, a team that was considered a backslider before the finals but reached the pinnacle of glory thanks to a scientific, disciplined playing style, with defense as the foundation of coach Otto Rehhagel. Notably, the death of Bruckner's army came in the last second of the first extra time, after a header by 1m97 tall center-back Traianos Dellas. That was the only time Greece defeated the Czech Republic in a total of 7 encounters (1 draw, 5 losses), but it was worth its weight in gold. In the final, Greece continued to defeat host Portugal and stepped up to the top of Europe.

Eight years later, they meet again in the context of both entering a strong transition in force. Rosicky, Cech, Baros, Plasil are all over thirty weeks old and EURO 2012 could be the last international tournament of their careers. On the other side of the field, Karagounis, Katsouranis are champions left from the 2004 generation. Captain Rosicky admitted that the defeat eight years ago was the most painful defeat in his international career. But tonight's match for the Czechs is more than a debt collection. After the disastrous defeat to Russia in the opening day, Michal Bilek's team must win against Greece if they still want to keep their hopes of going on. And the 2004 champions are not allowed to lose because the final group stage match against Russia does not promise a good scenario.

Greece is no longer an iron wall, but...

Much has been said about Greece's defensive prowess after they conceded just five goals in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, only bettering Italy (2) and Russia (4). But after what was shown in the opening match, it can be seen that the defensive system under Fernando Santos does not create the same reliability as under Otto Rehhagel. That partly stems from the Portuguese strategist's more open football thinking, partly because the talent and experience of Dellas' juniors are quite limited.

A point against Poland was a disappointing result for Greece, with Karagounis missing a clear-cut penalty. Their defensive concerns were compounded by the absence of three defenders: Giorgos Fotakis (thigh), Avraam Papadopoulos (knee) and Sokratis Papastathopoulos (suspension). And that, of course, was a real chance for the Czech Republic.

But the question is whether the Crystal Palace team can take advantage of that advantage when their attack is being questioned about the efficiency of scoring. Michal Bilek's team has only scored 14 goals in 10 qualifying matches (including 2 play-off matches), a sad performance. Having to rely on Milan Baros, the top scorer of EURO 2004 but has only scored 3 goals for the national team in the past two years, is a testament to that weakness. Tomas Necid, who has scored 7 goals in 26 matches for the national team, could be the main striker for the future, but it seems that at present, he has not yet created trust with coach Bilek, and has had to be a backup for Baros.

The biggest problem that both Greece and the Czech Republic are facing is creativity in their play, with Karagounis having declined a lot due to the burden of age, and Rosicky completely disappointing when he was really outclassed by Arshavin in the opening match. With the current players and playing style, it is hard to believe that this match will take place with many goals.

According to Thethaovanhoa.vn - DT