Czech R. – Greece 12.06.2012

2nd round of matches starting today, it’s already time for verdicts I believe and there is no room left for tacticism. Both teams are still without victory after 1 match and if any of these 2 aim to go through they need a victory today.

Greeks surprised in 1st match: they were down 1 goal and 1 man vs co-hosts Poland, still were able to grab a draw and if Karagounis did not miss the penalty…after 1st half display few would have believe it, but then Salpingidis equalized coming from the bench at half time and Greeks were closer to win than Poland, regardless of the missed penalty. Some believed this Greeks side had few chances in this Euro campaign, I am not among those, Greeks are solid and it seems they r bit better in creating chances as well, with respect to past versions, all focused on defense.
With Poland playing Russia in the evening, this is the perfect chance for Greeks to get back on track, facing probably the poorest side in this championship. And if you consider that Czechs allow 4 goals in the opening game, then the task of the team which qualified with the lowest goald scored among the 16, may result easier.

Czech as mentioned is a poor team. They started with a disastrous 4-1 loss to Russia, went down 2-0 after 1st half and even after an early 2-1 in the 2nd half, they never gave the impression to possibly equalize. Russia dominated the game and in the end it could have been a even worst result for Czechs if Kerzhakov would not have missed so many chances.
Czechs looked poor in defending in match 1 and Russia was able to hit them several times on quick counterattacks, Czechs played open and if they aim to stand a chance, they have to approach this game in the same way, ’cause a draw today would mea nothing for both teams. This could be a key factor in the match: If Czechs could put Greece under pressure as Poland did in the 1st half, then they can even stand a chance, but they have to improve in defense otherwise it would be very tough to get smth put of this match.

To stand a chance for qualifying, and given Russia seems to have booked already a spot in quarterfinals, both teams need to win, and in order to win they have to score.
Greeks improved here, while Czechs have also the potential to find the back of the net, but Czechs have also a shaky defense, hence I expect them to concede as well.