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The first round of the Euro 2024 group stage will conclude when 2016 champions Portugal face the Czech Republic, with both teams last meeting in the UEFA Nations League as recently as 2022, when Portugal won twice by an aggregate 6-0 score. Roberto Martínez’s side are making their ninth Euros appearance and will be hoping to continue the trend which saw them advance beyond the group stages in all eight previous editions.
That was despite Portugal finishing third in their group on the last two occasions as they have won only one of their last six matches at this stage (D4, L1). Yet after dominating qualification Group J with a perfect record (W10) and a whopping aggregate score (36-2), they will be confident of advancing into the knockouts in a more convincing way this time.
The Czech Republic are appearing at their eighth consecutive European championship finals buoyed by the fact four of their last seven appearances saw them progress to the knockout stages. They have a perfect record under new coach Ivan Hašek, who took over after the qualification phase, with four wins in friendlies coming despite conceding in each match.
Their preparation for the finals didn’t lack controversy, as midfielder Michal Sadílek injured himself while riding a tricycle downhill in Schladming during Czech Republic’s preparation in Austria. That’s a far from timely injury, especially as the Czechs have won only once in their last six group stage Euro matches (D2, L3), although they did advance to the knockout stages in 2021 from the third spot in their group.
Players to watch: Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is set to become the first player to appear in six Euro tournaments. He scored against the Czechs in the quarter-finals of the 2012 edition, whilst he netted a brace in the last friendly match against Ireland (3-0). While Czech Republic’s Antonín Barák can’t boast to have hit the career heights of Ronaldo, he has scored three goals in four friendly matches in 2024, two of which arrived beyond the 84th minute.
Hot stat: Portugal have won seven of their last ten competitive matches by at least a two-goal margin. #PORTUGAL #czechrepublic
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