Czech national team finished in the quarterfinals at the EURU, Romanians took the penalty

Košice – It’s over. For the first time since 2013, the Czech national football team did not qualify for the European Championships. In the quarter-finals of the championship in Košice, Slovakia, they fell to Romania, losing 0:1 after penalty kicks.

The dream defence of the European gold from Kiev, Ukraine, did not go well. “We knew that we were the only opponent here who could threaten the Romanians, that they were afraid of us because we beat them at the last European Championship in Kiev. The performance can be any, it’s just that we didn’t advance. We can probably hold our heads up high, unfortunately, finishing in the quarter-finals means failure, that’s how it will be judged,” said Czech defender Jiri Sodoma.

He was the only one of the three Czech enforcers to convert a penalty. Patrik Levcik and then David Presl failed, while Balogh and Plopeanu scored. “Unfortunately, it’s about who has stronger nerves or better luck with penalties. We didn’t get the job done, even though we thought that the ending should have swung it to us. At least it showed beautifully that football is not fair. On the other hand, the Romanians hit us with three goals and it turned out the way it did,” Sodoma acknowledged.

Before the game, the Czech team agreed on who would eventually go for penalty kicks, but the weight of responsibility fell on some. “We had it set up according to who was confident, we had five players but only two of them were confident, Jirka Sodoma and Patrik Levcik. Then we left it up to the guys. It was whoever was confident,” said Czech coach Stanislav Bejda.

The end of regulation time was in the Czech hands, as Romania finished shorthanded with Moldovan sent off. “When they went to four, we had our best chance of the game. If we had scored, luck would have been on our side, they would have done nothing and we would have advanced,” Sodoma said.

In the knockout phase, the Czech team’s performance was on the rise, only to run into the five-time European champions. “The match was tactically tied, the boys executed what we said relatively well, I have to praise them for that. It’s a shame we didn’t bring it to a happy ending in the last two minutes of the power play, it’s sad like that. Penalties are a lottery, unfortunately we didn’t stop it,” regretted Bejda.

“Everyone said that the Romanians are somewhere else, but they didn’t outplay us to finish a situation so that they had a scoring chance. A shot from 20 yards into the bar is not a chance,” he added.

Romania will play Bulgaria in Friday’s semi-final, while Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, who knocked out host Slovakia, will face each other in the other match. “Azerbaijan played well against the Slovaks, but I think the Romanians are a cut above everyone else. I think that only we can match them and only we can beat them, which we failed to do this time, and that’s why we are finished,” the Czech coach noted.

The national team was missing two mainstays from the World and European Championships. Goalkeeper Ondřej Bíro was injured in the first game against France, while speedster Jan Koudelka was unable to play due to his professional contract in football.

“Ondřej Bíro gave us some confidence in the back line, the possibility of outnumbering him at crucial moments, however, hats off to Dominik Kunicky, who played the whole championship very well and played the last two games in the knockout phase with zero saves, he gave a decent performance. Of course, Honza Koudelka has difference things, we missed these two players, they would have made a difference,” said Bejda.

In any case, the Czech national team is facing a generational change, for which it must prepare. “Of course other players will get a chance, we have to slowly rejuvenate the squad, all the boys are getting older. I’m sure the young blood will be good for the next championships. As far as the functioning of the team is concerned, we have it set up fantastically and there is no need to change anything,” added Bejda.

Romania – Czech Republic 0::0, penalty kicks 2::1
Goal:: decisive penalty by Plopeanu. Penalty: : Balea, Moldovan – Doubravský, Novotný. Moldovan.
Romania::: Neasca (Klein) – Apostol, Radu, Popa (C), Balea, Alecu – Chetan, Ungur, Paulevici, Plopeanu, Moldovan – Balogh, Ferik, Nemitanu.
Czech Republic:: Kunický (Zrzavý) – Sodoma, Hakl, Verner, Mařík (C), Paděra – Macko, Levčík, Jelínek, Doubravský, Pospiš – Novotný, Presl, Rosůlek.

Source: Malý fotbal