Kutaisi (from our reporter) – In June 2011, there were nerves, the Czech boys turned the decisive battle with England towards the end. “Hopefully it will be calmer this year,” hopes Suchopárek.
What do you still remember from the last match in the group at EURO 2011? It was drama, but in the end you won 2-1 and advanced.
We were losing from the 76th minute, but in the end we turned it around and won. We had the advantage that a draw against England was enough for us, which is quite similar to our current situation. This year we don’t want to leave it for the last five minutes and have the nerves like that time, but sometimes it happens.
The Israeli 20s also experienced it several times at the World Championships, where they won a sensational bronze.
I would like to remind you of the quarter-final with Brazil: in the 91st minute, the Israelis got a goal to make it 1:2, but in the 93rd minute they managed to equalize and win after a goal in extra time over the favorite of the entire championship. Even from this it is clear that nothing easy awaits us. Israel never gives up, hats off to him. We face the toughest opponent in the group: we haven’t been favorites in this tournament yet, but now that a draw is all we need, it fits us a bit in this role. However, the performance of both teams is at least equal.
What else is the strength of Israel besides never giving up?
It has several formation options, a great goalkeeper and an above-standard forward Turgeman, who in my view is one of the most talented players in the championship. He already confirmed it at the mentioned World Twenty20. Israel has great individuality and a good defensive game, on which they built their progress to this EURO. In the play-off, he showed mental resilience, through Ireland he went to penalties. It was also seen in the drawn match with Germany and partly with England, which despite the win did not have an easy time with the Israelis.
Photo: FAČR
Martin Vitík (right) celebrates with his teammates a goal to make it 2:1 against Germany.
You played the first two matches in Batumi and on Monday you moved to Kutaisi, where you have a battle with Israel. Your impressions of the new environment?
The journey to Kutaisi took us much less time than we thought. We were pleased with the welcome and the quality of the accommodation. We completed the pre-match training quite well and I believe that this will carry over to the match as well.
How do you keep the team focused to take advantage of the euphoria after Sunday’s win over Germany?
It is played practically every third day, so we prepare mainly by regenerating. The boys are under the care of masseurs or physiotherapists and we also have relaxation aids, which we use to the full. We are trying to create a relaxed atmosphere and I think we have already done a lot of work in Prague at the training camp. Now we deal with the little things before each match: we have an overview of the opponents’ matches at the EURO, but we don’t want to overwhelm the players with information. We try to focus on ourselves.
In the first two games of the tournament, you played with a similar tactic against the favorites, which you will probably have to change now, as you can expect a more balanced game against Israel. How do you deal with it?
We have certain tactical options that we have planned for the entire tournament. We have already shown it in previous matches: it may have looked like we are always playing the same way, but we have different variants. Other players get into it too. This match will be a bit different than the first two, but I believe we can react well to the opponent and be as active as we were in the matches against England and Germany. We will have to play more in combination, not just wait for break situations and be more effective in the end. And that a draw is enough for us? I don’t feel any ties from the team.
2023-06-28 03:51:51
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