Euro 2020: Dark Horses Gallop Towards the Semis

Czech Republic vs Denmark

This wasn’t a fixture many people expected to be a quarter-final, but this Euro 2020 tie between the Czech Republic and Denmark is exactly that when the two teams meet at the Baku Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

The victors will go on to face the winners of semi-final four between England and Ukraine and, one step away from the final, the trophy is in sight.

Denmark are now fifth favourites to win the European title at SBOTOP odds of 12.00, while the Czechs are sixth favourites at 22.00. And while there are still some big guns in the tournament, including Italy and Belgium, both these teams are now outsiders to be taken very seriously indeed.

The Danes are at 1.56 to advance to the next round with the Czech Republic the underdogs at odds of 2.47, but there are no guarantees and we can expect a game packed with passion and with no little quality.

opacity 0

CLICK HERE
TO SEE UPDATED ODDS

UEFA EURO 2020

Talking Points

Schick on fire for Czechs

Czech head coach Jaroslav Silhavy has guided his team, quietly and under the radar, into the last eight with very few problems. Losing only to England in their Group D campaign, the Czechs swept aside Scotland and drew with a strong Croatia side.

But the best of their Euro 2020 results to date was a 2-0 victory over the fancied Netherlands in the Round of 16. They were ruthless in exploiting the sending off of Netherlands centre-back Matthijs de Ligt as Tomas Holes and Patrik Schick fired the through to the last eight.

The result was arguably the upset of the tournament so far, but it was no surprise that Schick scored. It was his fourth goal of the competition, including a 50-yard effort against the Scots, and the Bayer Leverkusen striker now has 15 in 30 international appearances.

The pre-match Euro 2020 betting odds marginally favour the Danes but if Schick is on song again it could be a very different story.

Elsewhere in the team, Vladimir Coufal was outstanding in the Czech win over Holland while his West Ham team-mate Tomas Soucek put in yet another impressive performance for his country. With his box-to-box energy and ability to make timely runs into the penalty area, he is a constant threat which Denmark will be wary of.

And in Sevilla’s stopper Tomas Vaclik, the Czechs have a rock-solid last line of defence.

Denmark’s squad runs deep

Kasper Hjulmand’s team has been immense throughout this competition, after the utter dismay of Christian Eriksen’s collapse and the subsequent loss to Finland, the Danes pushed Belgium all the way before hitting both Russia and Wales for four.

Hjulmand has a selection problem ahead of the game, but it’s a good one to have. RB Leipzig striker Yussuf Poulsen scored two in the group stages but was rested for the Wales game and Kasper Dolberg came in to score a brace and made a great case for a place in the quarter-final.

Kasper Dolberg eyes a semi final spot in the Euro 2020 when they face Czech Republic — Denmark’s Kasper Dolberg celebrates scoring their second goal against Wales in Euro 2020

Elsewhere, wing-back Joakim Maehle has been in scintillating form, adding two goals, while 20-year-old Mikkel Damsgaard has been superb since he stepped in to fill the creative boots of Eriksen.

But while the Danes have been in brilliant scoring form their two most important players are responsible for keeping clean sheets. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is an immense character while skipper Simon Kjaer is an inspirational leader. The Milan centre-back is an outside bet for Player of the Tournament and if the Danes go all the way then he could well win that title.

History

Denmark were famously the 1992 European Champions when Kasper Schmeichel’s dad, Peter, was in goal as they beat the reigning World Champions Germany 2-0. The Czechs came close to matching that feat but they lost to the Germans in the Euro 96 final.

The Czechs have a slight advantage in the head to head results at two wins to one, while there have been five draws in all meetings in this century.

The last meeting was a 1-1 friendly back in 2016, so the current crop of players in either team are yet to face each other in a competitive international.

Over the last six games the two teams have identical records of three wins, two defeats and a draw but, if we look a little further back, Denmark’s run of 11 wins in 14 games beats the Czechs’ six victories over that same period.