The underrated Czechs

I had been hoping that Netherlands and Denmark would face one another in the quarterfinals for no other reason to see some of the best fans in the world competing in beer drinking.

But it is not to be. Instead Denmark will be facing the unpredictable Czechs, who played a fantastic match against the Dutch, who have every reason to be disappointed after their excellent first round. The Czechs were extremely well-organized, and in the second half managed to completely close down the Netherlands, for whom Matthijs de Ligt red card proved crucial: the young Juventus player had been extraordinary in defense, and his absence left a huge hole in the Dutch defense which the Czechs fully exploited with goals by Tomas Holes and Patrik Schick.

After watching the Czechs today I think that they are a much more difficult adversary for Denmark than the Netherlands would have been, but I doubt that we will see a repeat of the Euro 2004 quarterfinals when the Czechs walked over an overrated Danish side. This is a better and more united Danish team than back then, and surely have a chance to defeat the Czechs, but would be extremely wrong in underestimating them!

England through

England entered the tournament as one of the favourites, and have proceeded to win their group D today after defeating the Czech Republic 1-0 on a first half header by Raheem Sterling. England thus go through with seven points and a score of 2-0. In their last-16 match England will face the runner-ups of Group F (France, Germany, Portugal, or even Hungary, who could defeat Germany, and with France beating Portugal, could become runner-ups, as unlikely as it may appear), and will thus face a quality team. England have not looked like a world-beating team in the first round, but that makes them, in my view, more likely to succeed: a winning team needs to pace itself to the knock-out matches, and that may be what England needs to do to make it all the way. No matter who they face, it will be an exciting match with England playing at home.

Croatia made it as runner-ups with a 3-1 victory over Scotland. While not looking as good as they did in Russia, Croatia is a team that, on a good day, can beat any team in the world. After a solid start the Czechs only took the third spot. In the match against England it was a bit disappointing that they did not try harder to go for a goal and become group winners, but they appear satisfied to just make it beyond the group stages. I doubt that the Czechs will make it any further, and their memory from the tournament is likely to be Patrick Schick's spectacular 2-0 goal against Scotland.