We will be troublesome opponents for Dutch, says Czech coach

The Czech Republic will provide unpleasant opposition for the Netherlands in their Euro 2020 last-16 clash on Sunday by working hard and looking to attack, coach Jaroslav Silhavy said on Saturday.

The Czechs may be without captain Vladimir Darida, however, after the midfielder suffered an unspecified knock in Friday’s training session. Darida did not train on Saturday, leaving his fitness for the match in doubt, Silhavy said.

“We are working effectively as a team and we will be an unpleasant opponent for them,” Silhavy said of facing the Netherlands. “We want to surprise them.

“We cannot only defend. We need to go forward and threaten the opponent. We really need to concentrate.”

The Czechs also had to cope with their flight to Budapest being delayed by a technical fault with the aircraft door, which forced them to train in Prague on Saturday before later flying to Hungary for Sunday’s match at the Puskas Arena.

Silhavy — whose energetic side press high and look to steal possession for counter-attack opportunities — said the squad was now focused on the match rather than the delay and that Antonin Barak was a candidate to replace Darida if needed.

“It was a slight complication but we reacted quickly and came up with a solution,” Silhavy said. “We did all we could. Now we are just focusing on tomorrow.”

The Czechs, who finished third in their group, face a Dutch side firing on all cylinders after they topped their section with a perfect record and scored the most goals of all the teams in the first three matches of the tournament.

But Silhavy expects a huge boost from thousands of Czechs expected to attend the match in which he will also have to replace defender Jan Boril, who is serving a one-match ban after picking up two yellow cards in the group stage.

“We play football for the fans and I believe there will be a thunderous atmosphere in the stadium,” Silhavy said. “This will be good motivation.

“The Dutch are very difficult opponents. They are the favourites going into the game but it is just one game and anything can happen.”