In amongst the European action this week, there was a huge result in Warsaw where the Czech Republic all but booked their tickets for the finals, thanks to a battling 1-1 draw with Poland.
Now that they have seen off Poland in Group E, the Czechs just need to avoid defeat at home to Moldova on Monday to confirm their place at Euro 2024 in Germany, and it was a goal from midfield general Tomas Soucek which earned the crucial point and consigned the Poles to the perils of the play-offs.
The Czech’s biggest Euro 2024 results were the four points they took off Robert Lewandowski’s Poland; and the Euro 2024 betting odds overwhelmingly back Jaroslav Silhavy to lead the Czechs to their eighth Euro finals in succession, ever since they reached the final in 1996, only to be beaten by Germany in extra time.
Soucek’s story so far
After a series of loans from his parent club, the 21-year-old Soucek broke into the Slavia Prague team in 2015, making 29 appearances, and the following year he was called up to the national squad after making 13 international appearances at U21 level. He’s a big unit, at a height of 6ft 4in, and Soucek quickly evolved into one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the business.
He was trained to be more of a defensive midfielder and his reading of the game, tough tackling and clever distribution makes the 28-year-old an ideal shield for the defence and a launch-pad for attacks. But his height and sense of timing make him a real threat up front, particularly from set pieces, and he has scored 11 goals in 60 appearances for the Czech Republic.
His dominating performances earned Soucek a move to the Premier League with West Ham United in 2020, for a fee of around £19m, and in that year he also received the Czech National Team Golden Boot award. And at that price he has been one of the best buys in the English top flight in recent years. In 2021 Soucek was joint top scorer with Michail Antonio, with ten goals, and he also won the club’s Hammer of the Year award.
Soucek was a key part of West Ham’s Europa Conference League winning side last season and the Hammers are one of the big players in this year’s Europa League. For club and country this midfield powerhouse has become one of the very first names on the team-sheet.
A battling campaign
Alongside his West Ham team-mate Vladimir Coufal, Soucek has been a mainstay of the Czech team over the past seven seasons and their 2024 Euro qualifying run has largely been a success. They would have liked to overtake leaders Albania, but to finish in the top two in a group with Poland is a success. With three wins and three draws, the only real blemish was a 3-0 defeat way to Albania, and in that game they were down to ten men after the first half sending off of Slavia Prague forward Mojmir Chytil.
The Czechs had the perfect start in March, beating Poland 3-1 and scoring their first with just 27 seconds on the clock as Ladislav Krejci headed in a long throw from Coufal.
Draws with Moldova and Albania, and then defeat to the Albanians, put the Czechs under serious pressure. And they were nervy in October, in a home match against the Faroe Islands who they had already beaten 3-0. By 75 minutes the game was still goalless, but when Odmar Faoro handled in the penalty area the referee pointed to the spot and captain Soucek took the responsibility, slamming the ball into the net.
It was a high pressure moment and Soucek’s cool put them in a much better position with just two games to go. And the confidence he breathed into his side paid dividends as the Czech Republic took on Poland in an attacking contest. The Poles had 18 shots to the Czechs’ 15 and went ahead just before the break, but Soucek levelled with a clinical finish early in the second half.
The Czech’s meeting with Poland was a high pressure affair for both, but it is Soucek and his team which emerged with the result they needed and now they just need to keep Moldova at bay in their final test. Here at SBOTOP we’ll be back with a round up of the Euro 2024 action but, unless we have a shock result at the Andruv Stadion in Olomouc on Monday, Soucek will lead the Czechs to next year’s European showcase.
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