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The match against the Czech Republic at 2am on June 19 marks Portugal's ninth appearance at the EURO finals.
Form
The goal of coach Roberto Martinez and his team is to continue to overcome the group stage, as they have done in their previous 8 appearances. However, Portuguese fans have reason to feel nervous ahead of the opening match.
At EURO 2016 and 2020, Portugal only finished 3rd in the group and won a ticket to the round of 16. After 6 recent EURO group stage matches, Ronaldo and his teammates only won 1 match (4 draws, 1 loss).
Therefore, the EURO 2016 champions prepared carefully before flying to Germany. They won all 10 EURO qualifiers, scoring 36 goals and conceding only 2 goals in Group J.
It must be added that this is a weak group. Apart from Portugal and the second-placed Slovakia, no other teams have qualified for the EURO 2024 finals.
Portugal's opening match opponent is the Czech Republic. The last time the two teams met was in the UEFA Nations League in 2022. After 2 group stage matches, Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates defeated the Czech Republic with a total score of 6-0 (won 2-0 and won 4-0).
Like Portugal, the Czech Republic's results in the EURO group stage were not very positive with 3 losses in the last 6 matches (2 draws, 1 win). The Czech Republic's hope rests on the shoulders of new coach Ivan Hasek. The 60-year-old coach has won all matches since the qualifying round, winning 4 matches and scoring 13 goals.
Compare forces
Coach Roberto Martinez has many quality players in all three lines. However, there is one position where the Spanish coach does not have to worry about choosing personnel. That is Cristiano Ronaldo.
At the national team level, the 39-year-old superstar is the player with the most goals in football history (130). This achievement is expected to increase before the tournament ends. If he scores, Ronaldo will be the oldest player to ever score at EURO.
Another veteran who has a chance to break the EURO record is Pepe. If the former Real Madrid star plays tonight, he will become the oldest player ever to play in a EURO finals (41 years and 113 days).
Pepe will probably start on the bench, making way for his two juniors Goncalo Inacio and Ruben Dias. The midfield trio will likely be a combination of Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes and Vitinha.
On the Czech side, coach Ivan Hasek will be without Michal Sadilek. The midfielder from Dutch club Twente fell off his bike earlier this month and suffered a serious injury. However, West Ham duo Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek will fill Sadilek's void.
On the attack, Patrik Schick is Mr. Ivan Hasek's number 1 hope. The striker from Bayer Leverkusen Club has scored 19 goals in 38 appearances for the Czech Republic team.
Expected lineup
Portugal: Costa; Cancelo, Inacio, Dias, Mendes; Palhinha, Vitinha, Fernandes; Leao, Ronaldo, Bernardo.
Czech Republic: Stanek; Holes, Hranac, Krejci; Coufal, Soucek, Provod, Barak, Jurasek; Kuchta, Schick.
Notable Specifications
Portugal have won 7 of their last 10 matches (excluding friendlies) by a margin of 2 goals or more.
Score prediction: Portugal 4-1 Czech Republic
TB (according to VTC)