Our national football team, which played against the Czech Republic at the Hamburg Volkspark Stadium, finished the match with a score of 2-1 and managed to qualify for the round of 16. The Crescent-Star team faced one of the strongest teams in the tournament, Austria, in the last 16 round. The Czech Republic showed an ineffective appearance in the match due to the absence of 28-year-old striker Patrik Schick, but said goodbye to the tournament with one point. Former Czech national team defenders Tomas Zapotochny and Jiri Jarosik evaluated last night’s match.
Tomas Zapotocny: “Turkey were on another level and were rightfully ahead in the group”
Speaking about last night’s victory of the national football team over the Czech Republic at EURO 2008 and EURO 2016, Tomas Zapotochnyi offered his analysis of the match, saying, “We played well, despite being ten men against a strong opponent,” an opponent like Turkey. Antonin Bak’s red card and sending off obviously influenced the score and the loss of the match. If Patrik Schick had played, the match might have ended differently. Objectively, it has to be said that the Turkish national team is on a completely different level, both in terms of combination and quality, and deservedly advanced in the group. “I congratulate them for this,” he said.
“Hakan Calhanoglu, the backbone of the team”
Speaking about the Crescent Stars team’s effective performance throughout the match, the former Czech footballer drew particular attention to team captain Hakan Calhanoglu. Coach Zapotochnyi said, “Turkiye is definitely better technically and was very good with the ball. I liked players like Arda Güler, Kenan Yıldız and Barış Alper Yılmaz more in this match. They are very different players and really have quality. They also have very good technique. “Hakan Calhanoglu, the core of the team, also did a great job defensively,” he said.
“When I saw the ATM, I got goosebumps.”
Referring to the atmosphere created by the thousands of fans who usually fill the stadium during group matches, the 43-year-old former star concluded with an analogy to his time in the Super League: “The atmosphere at Hamburg Volkspark Stadium was incredible. It was fantastic. Seeing the atmosphere today, it totally reminded me of the game in Turkey and gave me goosebumps. The Turkish fans were undoubtedly the team’s 12th man and helped the players a lot. “We have to humbly acknowledge and congratulate our opponents for their victories and progress.”
Ili Yarosik: “Turkish fans took the team one step further”
Former defender Jiri Jarosik, who played 23 games for the Czech national team, had this to say about the match: “Unfortunately, the result of the match meant that we were once again eliminated early from the tournament. I liked the way the Turks tried to play football, but I expected them to have the ball a bit more. This way, they could have created more scoring chances against our 10 men. Our team played controlled football. We tried to fight harder with our 10 men, and that’s why we didn’t deserve this result. The Turkish national team had a great, experienced and true leader, like Hakan Calhanoglu. In addition, the Turkish fans created a great atmosphere in the stadium and put their team ahead of the pack. “They also deserve a lot of praise.”
