The teams of England, Croatia and the Czech Republic advanced from Group D to the play-off of Euro 2020, and the Scottish national team completed their performance in the tournament. Readers and experts of Kommersant appreciated the play of these teams.
Anatoly Byshovets, striker, multiple champion of the USSR, Honored Master of Sports and Honored Coach of the USSR, who won the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul against the Brazilian national team:
Photo: Mikhail Pochuev / TASS
– Today we can speak of the England national team as a potential winner of the UEFA EURO 2020. On the one hand, the vast experience of the players who play in the Champions League finals and other European competitions in their clubs gives freedom and confidence to defense and attack. On the other hand, nobody canceled the motivation of the game in their capital, and nobody canceled the coaching strategy. It exists and is preserved.
It was important for all teams not to lose the first matches, and then, knowing how others are performing, build a further strategy for choosing a plan and tactics for subsequent matches. By the way, our team did not succeed either in the first or in the final match. Only in the meeting with Finland was it possible to play for the result and not shift your success to the match with Denmark. The group regulations leave hope for the third-place teams.
The examples of Croatia in Group D and Denmark in Group B show the players’ commitment and dedication. There is a very moral moment here: the players dedicate the victory to their comrade, they dedicate it to Erickson. I think this is a very important point. This speaks about the most important thing – about creating a working atmosphere in the team, an atmosphere of unity, which has the power of action.
From the game itself, I can say that the Czech Republic is a fairly balanced and organized team. This team retains good opportunities to support the spectacle that we see in many matches, for example, with the participation of France or Denmark. The Czech Republic lacked a bit of luck in the last match, but England’s motivation should also be noted. It is London that will host the main matches of the championship at Wembley.
The Scottish national team deserves sincere respect. In the matches with England and Croatia, I can single out dedication, dedication and the ability to impose a fight, regardless of the eminence of the opponent. Not to occupy him and the main thing – the unity of the fans and the team. This energetic message is not the last in understanding the players’ responsibility to their fans.
Konstantin Makarov, president of the betting company BetBoom:
Photo: from the personal archive of Konstantin Makarov
– Teams in group D settled down as expected, as predicted by fans and experts. The England national team before the start of the tournament was considered the favorite of the group. But despite the support of the fans at Wembley, the British were not very confident in the playoffs, scoring only two goals in three games.
Analysts at the BetBoom betting company do not consider the British to be among the favorites – the coefficient for their victory at the European Championship 2020 is nine, which is twice as high as that of France. It affects the fact that, unlike Italy or the Netherlands, England did not show a confident attacking game. Croatia’s chances are ghostly – 1 in 40.
In general, the matches of Group D turned out to be not the brightest in the tournament, so it is likely that we will not see either England or Croatia in the decisive play-off matches of the European Championship-2020.
Denis Boyarintsev, footballer, coach, player of the Russian national team in 2004-2005:
Photo: FC KAMAZ
– It is not surprising that the Croatians won a convincing victory over the Scots, demonstrating good, meaningful football. The leaders, who finally showed their class, tried especially hard. True, it was noticeable that the players of the Scottish national team lost a lot of strength in the game with England and looked a little tired. If you remember the 2018 World Cup, the Croatian national team is an exemplary team in terms of the distribution of forces throughout the tournament. Then they had to leave the group with great difficulty, if my memory serves me correctly, to play two or even three matches for 120 minutes. And after such difficult matches, the players in the next were ready to play at full strength. Then there was a feeling that the training system for the Croatian national team was one of the best. So I will not be surprised that the Croats will improve and look better during the tournament.
The British, though they do not show bright football yet, but confidently left the group, having won, however, two victories with a minimum score, showing an indistinct game with the Scottish national team. Well, the Czech national team can only hope to get out of the third place, but it is unlikely that something shines further for her, her game is not impressive.
Edward Nisenboim, analyst at SA-Football Agency, former press attaché of Spartak:
Photo: premierliga.ru
– The regulations of the tournament, in which the teams taking third place, get the opportunity to advance to the next round, has a negative impact on the sports component. Already in the second round, many teams are satisfied with a draw, and in the games of the third round they are satisfied with a defeat. This leads to the fact that most of the matches become a formality. Of this number was the game England-Czech Republic. Both teams solved problems that were no longer related to reaching the second round. In any case, both teams pass like the Czech Republic from the third place, it was clear that they were already preparing for the play-off.
The Scotland-Croatia match was a play-off, the fight for an exit in the 1/8. Nobody was satisfied with a draw, it was supposed, if not enchanting football, then quite a dynamic game. In fact, apparently, the responsibility put such pressure on both teams that an interesting football did not work out. The game came out quite average, the decoration of which was the second goal of the Croats in the performance of Modric. Such a combination with such a blow would have brightened any match, but in such a whirlpool it became a bright flash. The Scots obviously wanted to win at home, but obviously their match of the year was a tour earlier at Wembley. There they showed very good football, but jumped over their heads and played only in a draw with the British. The Croats, without showing any extravaganza, nevertheless showed that their individual skill is an order of magnitude higher than the Scottish players.
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