What are the reactions to the Nations League draw? The Czech Republic is underestimated, which may be good for them!

The Czech national team has managed to stabilize itself over the past few seasons and has earned itself promotion to the top division of the UEFA Nations League. Performance Basket A offers the best European teams and Czech fans can look forward to seeing world-class stars.

The luck of the draw has given us some really strong opponents. In Group A2 we will meet Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. That’s really quite lucrative, don’t you think? The Czech Republic is an absolute underdog, but that could be a good thing for us.

In terms of attractiveness, we can only envy such Slovaks. Our eastern neighbours have dropped down to League C in the Nations League, which is the second weakest level in terms of performance. In the group, they will face Azerbaijan, Belarus and one of the Kazakhstan/Moldova pair.

In the long run, Czechs and Czech teams usually manage to perform much better against teams that almost nobody trusts them against. And even in the case of setbacks, this will be a great school for some of the national players. Domestic league footballers, in particular, need to play against top opponents for their further development.

How did coach Jaroslav Šilhavý or captain Tomáš Souček comment on the draw? And how does the football public see it?

Reaction to the UEFA Nations League draw

“The fact that we are among the top 16 teams in Europe is a great honour for us. And I believe that confrontation with them will move us forward,” said coach Jaroslav Šilhavý.

“I am already looking forward to all the matches because they will be attractive for us and for the spectators. I also believe that we can be successful in our group,” team captain Tomáš Souček is not hiding his ambitions.

Football journalist Luděk Mádl also reacted to the draw. The main discussions started under the tweet of the Czech national football team and under the tweet of Mádl.

“I think the ideal scenario – two heavyweights and one opponent for rescue.”

“Two Schickes won’t be enough for that.”

“18 points, too bad I expected tougher opponents.”

Football fans logically don’t trust our national team too much and expect a tough fight for third place. But be warned, the Nations League is played in June and of course a tough season with a high number of matches will mean that some stars will be on holiday.

On the other hand, I think that players like Tomáš Souček or Vladimír Coufal will not be missed by the Czech Republic and will want to play at all costs. That could be a big advantage.

Sources