Two of the dark horses of the tournament will clash at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan, with a place in the semi-finals of the 2020 UEFA European Championship at stake.
Patrik Schick’s wonder goal against Scotland gave the perfect start to the Czech Republic in the tournament as they ran out 2-0 victors on the night. A 1-1 draw against Croatia and a 1-0 loss to group winners England meant that Jaroslav Silhavy’s team finished third in Group D, booking a clash with ‘Group C’ winners the Netherlands in the ‘Round of 16’.
A 2-0 win over the Dutch side shocked football fans all over the world and set up a meeting with Denmark in the quarter-final. The Scandinavian side had the worst possible start to Euros 2020 as they lost two of the first three fixtures by narrow margins of 1-0 and 2-1 to Finland and Group B winners Belgium.
The Danes became the first team in UEFA European Championship history to lose their first two group matches and qualify for the ‘Round of 16’ with a roaring 4-1 victory against Russia.
No one in the world had a clue that Kasper Hjumland’s side could score 4 goals in two consecutive matches, and they achieved the feat by defeating Wales 4-0.
Team News
The Czech Republic has almost all key players available for the biggest match of their lives yet as Slavia Prague left-back Jan Boril returns from suspension and will slot in seamlessly at left-back.
Many Denmark players picked a single booking till now but the Danes won’t be worrying about that ahead of the quarter-final with most of their squad available. Christian Eriksen is the only notable absentee due to his cardiac arrest earlier in Euros 2020.
Key Players
Tomas Soucek has a knack for scoring goals, as witnessed in the 2020-21 Premier League season, where he scored 10 goals for West Ham United. The 26-year old midfielder has struggled to find the back of the net in the current tournament, but he is expected to come good against Denmark.
Patrik Schick has scored 4 of the 5 Czech goals in Euros 2020, and the Bayer Leverkusen striker would be shouldering his nation’s hopes and responsibilities yet again on Saturday.
Denmark full-back Joakim Maehle is the find of the tournament for most footballing fans and has already scored 2 goals at the Euros 2020 whilst playing in the left wing-back position. The Atalanta player is a key figure supporting the 3-man Denmark defence of Andreas Christensen, Simon Kjaer, and Jannik Vestergaard.
Forward Kasper Dolberg became the joint-top goalscorer for Denmark in Euros 2020 with two goals to his name inside the first 48 minutes of the ‘Round of 16’ clash against Wales. The 23-year old OGC Nice forward has played under 100 minutes in the ongoing tournament and would be looking to make most of the opportunities against the Czech Republic.
Prediction
The Czech Republic had some star names coming into the tournament, but the nation had no accolades to bank upon since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia back in 1993. Many Czech fans would be looking forward to witnessing their team repeat their 3-0 quarter-final win in Euros 2004 against Denmark on Saturday.
There aren’t many fans alive who remember Denmark lifting the 1992 Euro trophy, and the Kjaer-led team will be looking to make the most of the momentum on their side after scoring 8 goals in their last two matches.
