Darida will be missing, we will beat Belgium, says Šilhavý

The Czech Republic will have three important matches during the September national break. What did coach Jaroslav Šilhavý tell ČT Sport before the matches against Belarus, Belgium and Ukraine?

Šilhavý has had a successful year, winning the Nations League group and dropping out in the quarter-finals of the Euros after a disappointing 1:2 loss to Denmark.

“After the championship it took me a while to get over it, but I had a short holiday with my wife, so I rested. But now I’m looking forward to the boys and I believe that even though it’s not easy now, we will put together a team that will succeed in these matches.”

Patrik Schick, the Czech Republic’s biggest offensive mainstay, will not take part in the qualifying matches due to a red card penalty in the Wales game.

“Patrik will be missed, he is the best scorer of the European Championship, every team would miss him, but I believe that those who come on the field for him will also make it.”

Along with a lot of injured players, Vladimir Darida, who retired from the national team after the European Championship, will not take the field.

“He was the captain, the soul of the team – such a little bee. He had experience and he’s a great guy. He will be missed, but life goes on and I believe that we are growing more leaders and Tomáš Souček will be able to lead the team to further success.”

Šilhavy’s charges will first play a home clash with Belarus, then fly to Belgium, where they will try to win and keep their hopes for the first place in the group alive.

“We play Belgium next, they are still top of the world rankings. They have great players, a great team, but I believe we will build on our performance at the Euros, where we also played strong teams, and we want to beat the favourites at home.”

After a year and a half, the home games against Belarus and Ukraine will be enjoyed by the players in front of full stands, and spectators will be able to watch the matches.

“It was very strange without the fans. But then came the game in Hungary against the Netherlands, where there were a lot of our fans, who we thank for that and hopefully we rewarded them with the performance and the promotion. So I believe that in Ostrava and Plzeň the fans will come and cheer us on and the boys will reward them for that,” concluded Šilhavý.

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