Czech Republic lost to the Italians! How is the public reacting?

The first preparatory match before the European Championship did not go well at all for our national team. We were not able to keep up with the Italians at home and lost to them by a significant 0:4.

Coach Šilhavý chose a starting line-up for the preparatory match, which was missing two prominent players. Both Tomáš Souček and Patrik Schick started on the substitutes’ bench and only came on from the second half, but even their arrival did not improve the national team’s play.

The Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna, with a very limited number of spectators (about 1,000), watched mainly a precise Italian performance. The home team won the first half 2:0 after two spot kicks. The first goal was scored by Immobile, the second by Barella.

In the second half, Insigne and Berardi sealed the win. The 0:4 loss is a big exclamation mark for the Czech Republic before the tournament!

Now we must learn from our mistakes and put the bad match behind us. In the final, with our underdog mentality, we might even benefit a bit from the result, the role of the inferior team usually suits us much better than when we are given high demands and high expectations in the form of necessary wins, progressions, etc.

Public reaction to the heavy defeat to Italy

“The good news before the championship is that things can only get better from the national team. This is a hard slap in the face and especially the solution of the tracking duo will be very interesting to watch,” wrote the editor of CT Pavel Jahoda.

“The Italians showed quality, tactical maturity and experience, but I hoped we would try to make it more difficult for them. It was a hell of a loss, but with that kind of performance and passivity it would have been hard to beat any opponent at the championship. Hopefully this will serve as a good warning,” Bielsista tweeted.

“Italy-Czech Republic 4::0. What to write… Well, the foundation stone for eventual success at the EURO was laid today. No euphoria and high expectations before the tournament. As Czech teams like it. Otherwise the Italians impressionante,” tweeted football journalist Karel Häring.

“Footballers have a fisticuffs, they will not repeat the mistake of hockey players to win in the preparation,” joked Jaroslav Plašil (not a former national team player) in exaggeration.

“When you look at the line-ups of France, England or Belgium, you get scared. With the Czech team, one only has to look at the two stoppers…” wrote the sarcastic joker Neobjektivní Novinář.

ČT Sport, Pavel Jahoda, Bielsista, Karel Häring, Jaroslav Plasil, Neobjektivní Novinář