Match report: Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark
Here’s how Paul Doyle saw the action unfold as Denmark saw off the Czechs in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku ...
Ukraine v England
Meanwhile in Rome: There’s another quarter-final taking place tonight which ytou may or may not have heard about. Kick-off is in an hour but Scott Murray has the latest ...
Full-time in Baku: Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeep! Barak fires one last shot wide for the Czechs, Kasper Schmeichel takes the goal-kick and referee BJorn Kuipers blows three sharp blasts on his whistle.
The Danes are through, courtesy of first-half goals from Thomas Delaney and Kasper Dolberg. Patrik Schick’s strike early in the second half proved little more than a consolation for the Czechs. Denmark will face England or Ukraine in the semi-final.
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It’s all over: Denmark go through to the semi-finals after a strange game in Baku.
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90+5 min: Jankto plays the ball wide to Couffal on the right touchline. His cross is cleared. Another ball into the Danish penalty area is headed clear by Simon Kjaer.
90+4 min: Denmark throw-in, halfway inside the Czech half. The ball’s played to Wass, on for Stryger-Larsen, but his curled cross to the far post is headed clear.
90+2 min: Couffal drills a low ball into the Danish penalty area from the centre but it’s hoofed clear by Andersen.
90+1 min: In Soucek and Boril, the Czechs have two players sporting bloody white bandages on their heads. Will they be enough?!?!?!?
90 min: We’re going to have six added minutes.
88 min: Denmark break upfield with Braithwaite on the ball. He passes wide to Hjoebjerg and keeps running into the penalty are for the return pass, which duly arrives. Braithwaite appears to throw himself to the ground looking for a penalty but doesn’t get one.
86 min: Thomas Kalas is booked for a rather agricultural challenge on Christian Norgaard.
85 min: Simon Kjaer holds Vydra back by his arm as the substitute attempts to run on to a ball from deep. Vydra appeals for a free-kick, doesn’t get one and his team-mate Michael Krmenick is booked for complaining to the referee.
82 min: Martin Braithwaite is furious and who can blame him? Played in behind down the inside left by Poulsen, Joakim Maele selfishly shoots from a tight angle and see his effort saved by Vaclik. If he’d squared the ball, Braithwaite had an open goal to slot into.
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81 min: Denmark double-substitution: Joachim Andersen and Mathias Jensen on for Andreas Christensen and Thomas Delaney.
80 min: Czech substitution: Patrik Schick walks off feeling his left hamstring and is replaced by Burnley’s Matej Vydra.
78 min: Poulsen escapes Brabec and has a snap-shot from the edge of the penalty area saved by Vaclik after connecting with a cross from the right.
74 min: Free-kick for the Czechs, wide on the right. Brabec curls the ball across the face of goal and Schmeichel dithers but just gets enough of a hand on the ball to take it off the bandaged head of Soucek, who was lurking. Nothing comes of the ensuing corner.
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72 min: Jankto pounces on a poor clearance from Kjaer, takes a touch and unleashes a shot across the face of goal. Kjaer blocks his effort, which was not on target.
70 min: Yussuf Poulsen breaks through the centre and unleashes a shot from distance. His low drive is saved easily by Tomas Vaclik in the Czech goal.
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68 min: This half seems weirdly disjointed and lacking in urgency, more like an end-of-season Premier League game between two mid-table sides than a European Championship eliminator. Perhaps it’s the heat, player fatigue, the lack of a decent sized crowd, the absence of many supporters from either country or a combination of all those factors.
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66 min: While Soucek was being patched up, his teammate Ondrej Celuska was helped off by two team-mates, having apparently pulled his hamstring or a calf muscle. He’s replaced by Jakub Brabec.
63 min: Tomas Soucek slides in to block a Poulsen shot in the Czech penalty area and gets an accidental kick in the head for his troubles. He’s bandaged up Terry Butcher style and and is passed fit to continue.
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61 min: Poulsen sprints down the left flank leaving Couffal in his dust and squares the ball across the edge of the Czech penalty area for Braithwaite. His pass inside is cleared.
60 min: Denmark double-substitution: Christian Norgaard and Yussuf Poulsen on for Mikkel Damsgaard and Kasper Dolberg.
58 min: Janko swings a cross into the Danish penalty area from the left. It’s too close to Kasper Schmeichel, who gathers comfortably.
56 min: Andreas Christensen curls a cross towards the far post from just outside the Czech penalty area. Coufal dives to head it out for a corner. Schick clears the inswinger.
54 min: The Czech Republic are completely in the ascendency in this second half, with their burly substitute Krmencik wreaking havoc up front. Denmark’s defenders simply don’t knopw what to do with him and his distracting presence is making loads of space for Schick.
52 min: Czech Republic half-time substitutes: Krmencik and Jakub Janko on for Lukas Masopust and Tomas Holes.
50 min: It’s been an astonishing start to the second half from the Czech Republic, who forced Schmeichel into three saves in the opening four minutes before beating him courtesy of a Schick finish through the legs of Jannik Vestergaard.
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GOAL! Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark (Schick 49)
The Czechs are bouncing! Patrik Schick steers a cross from Vladimir Coufal into the bottom left-hand corner, despite having a defender directly in front of him.
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Second half: Czech Republic 0-2 Denmark
46 min: Play resumes and Kasper Schmeichel is immediately called into action twice in quick succession. He saves a long-range effort from Michael Krmenchik, who has just come on as a sub. Then moments later he saves a half-volley from Antonin Barak.
There were 31k tickets available for this match in Baku. There are approx 10k in attendance.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) July 3, 2021
Scheduling a match in a city with no direct flights to either nation, which requires a VISA, multiple PCR tests, quarantining and logistics. What a huge shame for #DEN and #CZE fans.
A confession: I didn’t notice at the time but it turns out that the corner from which Denmark opened the scoring should not have been awarded. It should have been a goal kick for the Czechs. Nevertheless, once it was awarded the Czechs had a duty to defend it properly and were found sadly wanting.
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Half-time: Czech Republic 0-2 Denmark
Peep! A ridiculously open first 45 minutes ends with Denmark leading courtesy of goals scored at the beginning and end of the half. Thomas Delaney opened the scoring, heading home from an early corner. Kasper Dolberg doubled Denmark’s lead just before the break, sidefooting home a remarkable outside-of-the-boot cross from Joakim Maehle. The Czech Republic have had their chances but have posed few problems.
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45 min: That cross from Joakim Maehle should be in a museum or art gallery. It was quite outstanding - just an insoucient swish with the outside of his right boot as he chased the ball down the flank with Coufal in hot pursuit. The Czech defender was probably waiting for him to stop and cut inside, but Maehle was having none of it. Braithewaite missed the header from six yards, but Dolberg was waiting behind him at the far post to volley home.
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43 min: The ball’s played down the left flank for right-footed left wing-back Joakim Maehle to chase. Without pausing or breaking stride, he flicks an unbelievable cross into the penalty area with ther outside of his right foot, teeing up Dolberg at the far post. The striker makes no mistake, volleying home from seven or eight yards out. A wonderful, wonderful goal.
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GOAL! Czech Republic 0-2 Denmark (Dolberg 42)
Oh my, what a goal! Denmark double their lead.
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40 min: There’s a break in play as a couple of players get treated for knocks. Their teammates adjourn to the sideline for an impromptu drinks party.
39 min: Celebrating his 21st birthday today, Damsgaard finds himself galloping down the inside-right and unleashes a low diagonal shot in the direction of the Czech goal. Vaclik saves comfortably.
35 min: Czech chance! Tomas Holes shoots straight at Schmeichel from the edge of the penalty area as the ball breaks his way.
34 min: From deep, Damsgaard plays a ball through the centre along the floor to Dolberg outside the penalty area, who in turn plays it further forward for the chasing Stryger-Larsen. Czech goalkeeper Vaclik dashes off his line and just beats the Danish right wing-back to the ball.
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33 min: It’s a weird old game, with barely any fans of either team in the 70,000-seater stadium. In total there’s fewer than 15,000 punters in.
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30 min: The Czech Republic win a free-kick which is taken from deep and lofted towards the far post. Ondrej Celuska leaps to try and nod the ball goalwards but fails to make contact with it. Rather than the ball being too high for him it looked like he mistimed his jump ... although he might have got a little shove from Jannik Vestergaard.
30 min: Thomas Delaney drives forward to the edge of the Czech penalty area, only to run into traffic and be relieved of possession.
28 min: Martin Braithwaite canters forward down the right flank for Denmark ,cuts inside and shoots wide from a tight angle. It seems inconceivable that there won’t be more goals in this match at the moment.
25 min: Czech corner. Sevcik sends the ball deep and Tomas Soucek skims it wide of the far post off his head. He got a clean header there and perhaps should have done better.
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22 min: Schmeichel sends a poor clearance straight to the feet of Czech midfielder Lukas Masopust, who controls the ball, advances and cuts inside. He plays the ball into the path of Holes, who brings a smart save out of Schmeichel from a tight angle. Atonement.
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19 min: Czech corner. Antonin Barak’s inswinger goes wide off the shoulder of Tomas Kalas.
18 min: Denmark clear after good work by Schick in the penalty area, picking up a pass from Vladimir Coufal. This match is remarkably open.
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17 min: From eight yards out, Delaney “knees” one wide with his right leg. The goal was at his mercy after a wonderful cross from Braithwaite.
15 min: Another chance goes to waste for the Czech Republic. A half-clearance drops for Sevcik, who blasts a volley high over the cross-bar. If he’d kept it down, one suspects it would have been unstoppable.
13 min: From the corner, Hjoebjerg boots the ball long out of defence, sending Mikkel Damsgaard on his way. He gets through on goal but is unable to control the ball properly and fails to unleash a shot. A let-off for the Czech Republic.
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11 min: Patrik Schick runs to the byline, cuts back inside and curls a deflected shot high and wide of the Danish goal. Corner for the Czechs.
9 min: Another Danish corner after a Kasper dolberg shot is put out. This one is sent to the back post, aimed at Jannik Vestergaard. He is unable to emulate his teammate’s effort from earlier.
7 min: Those Danes who are in the Olympic Stadium in Baku are beside themselves with delight. The marking on the part of the Czech Republic was hideously bad. A Danish blocker saw to it that Delaney was left unmarked and given a free header – the midfielder made no mistake. He didn’t need to make a run and barely even had to jump.
GOAL! Czech Republic 0-1 Denmark (Delaney 5)
From the corner, Stryger-Larsen’s delivery to the edge of the six-yard box is perfect. Thomas Delaney gets a free header and sends his downward effort into the bottom corner.
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5 min: Denmark corner. And it’s a goal!
3 min: Vladimir Coufal is teed up for a shot from the outside of the Danish penalty area and time seems to stand still. He swings his boot at the ball but his effort is blocked.
Czech Republic v Denmark is go ...
1 min: Denmark get the ball rolling, in a stadium that’s over 2,000 miles from both Copenhagen and Prague. On ITV, commentator Clive Tyldesely speculates that there might be 1,500 Danish fans present and fewer than 300 Czechs. Well done, Uefa. Well done.
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Weather report: It’s 28 degrees celsius in Baku, with humidity at 61%. Before a ball has been kicked, quite a few of the players have already got their sweat on.
Not long now: The Czech Republic make their way out on to the pitch in Baku, the players led by Tomas Soucek and wearing red shirts, navy shorts and navy socks. Their opponents follow soon after wearing white shirts, socks and shorts with red trim. It’s time for the national anthems and kick-off is less than five minutes away.
Less than 15 minutes to go: ITV finally turn their attention to the game they’re covering. I recall on one glorious occasion the great RTE pundit John Giles repeatedly referring to one of the teams involved in today’s game as “the Czech Republicans” during a match they played against Ireland. Despite being wrong, we all knew what he meant and he was probably extremely right.
ITV: There’s been ne’er a mention of either the Czech Republic or Denmark on ITV’s coverage so far but I am assured they are covering the game. It’s been wall-to-wall England so far.
Those teams: Jan Boril is back from his spell on the Naughty Step and the left-back comes back into the Czech side in place of Pavel Kaderabek, who drops to the bench. Czech captain Vladimir Darida is on the bench, so Tomas Soucek takes the armband.
The Danish side is unchanged from that started against Wales. Yussuf Poulsen starts on the bench as Kasper Dolberg keeps his place. Daniel Wass is also among the substitutes, with Jens Stryger-Larsen having done enough to keep his place at right wing-back.
Czech Republic v Denmark line-ups
Czech Republic: Vaclik, Coufal, Celustka, Kalas, Boril, Holes, Soucek, Masopust, Barak, Sevcik, Schick.
Subs: Kaderabek, Brabec, Darida, Krmencik, Jankto, Mandous, Zima, Vydra, Kral, Koubek, Pekhart, Pesek.
Denmark: Schmeichel, Christensen, Kjaer, Vestergaard, Stryger Larsen, Hojbjerg, Delaney, Maehle, Braithwaite, Dolberg, Damsgaard.
Subs: Andersen, Skov, Skov Olsen, Mathias Zanka Jorgensen, Norgaard, Lossl, Wass, Wind, Poulsen, Cornelius, Ronnow, Jensen.
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Holland)
Tonight’s match officials
- Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
- Assistant referees: Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra (Netherlands)
- Fourth official: Sergei Karasev (Russia)
- Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel (Netherlands)
Kasper Hjulmand speaks ...
“I can’t look anywhere without getting motivated,” said Denmark’s manager. “We’re doing it for the whole of Denmark and we have two dreams: to win something and to inspire and excite.
“We have a framework and philosophy that we stick to but, inside that, there is also space for tactical things, positions, and the skill of the individual players. There is always room for variations and tactical thoughts. Of course, we always try to find the right framework for the players to work in and, of course, it’s the same way with the Czechs.”
Jaroslav Silhavy speaks ...
“Denmark are really strong as a team,” said the Czech Republic manager of tonight’s opponents. “Their style is similar to ours. We know they may miss some players like Poulsen, Kjaer and others, but they have very good replacements and their quality will be the same. Nothing easy is ahead of us.
“We have to match them in commitment and approach. I believe we are capable to do so. Then the quality will play its role. One mistake may decide the course of the match and make it favourable for one side.”
“As regards our starting line-up, Vladimír Darida has regained fitness but we will wait to see how he will feel after today’s training session. But nothing has been 100% decided yet on who will start.”
Early team news
For the Czech Republic, Slavia Prague left-back Jan Boril is available after suspension and may return to the side. Brought in to face the Netherlands, midfielders Antonin Barak and Petr Sevcik may keep their places in Jaroslav Silhavy’s starting XI. Despite doubts over his fitness, Czech captain Vladimir Darida has told reporters he has trained well and is available if required.
Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand has some big decisions to make, with striker Yussuf Poulson and right-back Daniel Wass reported to be fit again after missing the win over Wales. Kasper Dolberg proved a more than able deputy for Poulsen and could keep his place after scoring two goals.
Despite limping off during the second half against Wales, skipper Simon Kjaer is also reported to be available for selection. Christian Eriksen, of course, remains absent but one suspects he will very much present in spirit.
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Quarter-final: Czech Republic v Denmark
The Olympic Stadium in Baku is the venue for the first of today’s quarter-finals in which the Czech Republic and Denmark will duke it out for the privilege of being beaten by England in the a semi-final berth against England or Ukraine.
Denmark go into the match as warm favourites on the back of emphatic wins over Russia and Wales, but are likely to face stiff opposition from a Czech Republic side that raised eyebrows by knocking out the Netherlands in the last round. Kick-off in Azerbaijan is at 5pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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