France is the favourite for the European Championship. It has the best team, says Vladimír Šmicer

Silver medalists of the last European Championships, World Champions 2018 from Russia. Team France is the biggest favourite for the upcoming Euros. In the eyes of fans, experts and betting companies. “It has the highest odds of 5.5::1,” confirms Karel Brettschneider, bookmaker at the Chance bookmaker. “And a quarter of the bets on the winner trust her,” he adds. Exactly 24 percent.

Behind the tricolour, according to Chance, England (6::1), the always strong and this year extraordinary Belgium (6.5::1), defending champion Portugal (9::1), together three-time continental champions Germany and Spain (9.5::1), and Italy (10::1) round off the group of favourites.

On the other hand, North Macedonia (1000::1) is the outright underdog, with half the odds written on Finland (500::1). The Czech Republic has a handsome winning number of 100::1, but 11 per cent of optimists have put money on its triumph. “These are typical fan bets,” explains Brettschneider.

Italy will be a surprise

France stands the highest, and no wonder. ” As world champion, it naturally attracts attention, it has an excellent team,” acknowledges Brettschneider. “But also an extremely difficult group,” he points to the world champions’ rivals Portugal, Germany and Hungary.

Vladimir Šmicer, silver medallist at the 1996 Euros in England, has got to know Gallic football very closely (Racing Lens and Girondins Bordeaux) and he is clear.

“France are driven by outstanding personalities in every line, Mbappé and Griezmann are unstoppable in attack, plus the real cannonballer Benzema has returned to the national team,” he points out the key figure of Real Madrid. “Then in midfield, Kanté and Pogba, that’s the strength,” he gushes.

Tomas Sivok, a recent national team player, is of the same opinion. “Benzema will make the team even more punchy,” he nods. But he finds the basis in a wide selection of first-class footballers. “Three years ago in Russia they absolutely dominated. And that generation is not yet past its zenith,” Sivok reflects.

Brettschneider argues for Belgium’s second-ranked betting confidence. “The players have been together for five years now and apart from Hazard, who is now out of form, all indications are that it will still work in this line-up,” he defends his tip.

The legendary Antonín Panenka, the 1976 Czechoslovak continental champion, has found favour in the recent Czech team’s conqueror, the Italians. “They pleased me,” he says of the Bologna match, which will not grace the annals of Czech football.

And he doesn’t mind that Italy are not among the favourites. “I, on the other hand, am happy when someone surprises, when someone jumps out of the paper assumptions,” Panenka wishes for excitement.

His federation-era teammate Ladislav Vízek also looks up to the Italian team, praising its offensive concept. “I know there is a lot of talk about France, but I don’t see why after a world title they should automatically conquer the European one,” he imagines the mental strain the team will go through.

At least getting out of the group

The Czech team is also going into the tournament with ambitions. However, eleven percent of the fans’ bets will not help it much on the pitch. “It would be a huge success if they advance out of the group,” says bookmaker Brettschneider.

Vízek offers an even more sceptical view. “We won’t even get a point!” he says firmly. “I bet a thousand crowns with coach Míra Beranek, as I put it, he gave me his hand on it and I keep my word,” he reveals the confirmed bet. “I’m a big fan of the boys, I wish them success, but I’m such a pussy, no optimist,” apologizes the two-time Czechoslovak Footballer of the Year.

Sivok, on the other hand, is an optimist and predicts the quarter-finals for the followers. “We have to make it through the Scotland game, it’s possible, even from third place,” he reveals the way forward. “Then anything can happen,” he hopes that coach Šilhavy’s charges will win at least one match in the knockout stage. They would come back with praise.

Panenka considers himself a great realist. “England and Croatia are better, there is only Scotland left,” he says of the Czech team’s chances. And ‘lucky’ Šmicer agrees. “Beating Scotland is the key to qualification,” he says, referring to the Czech team’s opening match. But the opponent is playing at home, where its courage and strength are uncomfortably increasing. “It will be tough,” he says.

Gold (probably) only once

The Czech national team, and the Czechoslovak national team before it, are among the most successful ever at the European Championships. Gold 1976, silver 1996, bronze 1960, 1980 and 2004. However, the last slightly more acceptable result was the 2012 quarterfinals.

Antonín Panenka, the scorer of the iconic penalty kick in the 1976 Belgrade 1976 penalty shootout against Germany, meets with his golden colleague Karol Dobias after every European Championship and they note that they have not been beaten again. “And I don’t think it will happen this year,” Panenka is not hopeful.

The arguments are telling. “The current Czech team may be able to beat a much more famous opponent, but not to beat them all the time,” he elaborates. “And there are so many tough and decisive matches at the Euros that it’s a necessity on the way to the throne,” he proves.

His side at the 1980 European Championships in Italy could have thought of defending their title. But the system, where no semi-finals were played but the group winners went straight into the trophy, did not allow it. “We would have had a chance against Belgium,” says Ladislav Vízek.

Like Panenka, he at least enjoyed the feeling of scoring. “That was great,” he gushes about the successful strike against Greece. He finds it unnecessary to discuss the possibilities of adding more metal to his collection. After all, his bet with Miroslav Beranek says it all…

His son-in-law Vladimír Šmicer scored at three championships, but the Czech team went to each of them in a different mood. “In England 1996 we surprised ourselves and came very close to triumphing,” he recalls of his only silverware haul.

“We also had a strong team four years later, but we paid the price for a strong group: the world champions and later winners, the French, had the Dutch succeeded in the semi-final penalty shoot-out with the Italians, they would have played the final too,” points out Šmicer.

Karel Brückner’s selection at Euro 2004 in Portugal, where he was considered the biggest favourite, had the biggest ambitions. ” The team had been together for a long time, it had fine-tuned itself, no defence like before, but we rolled the opponents, we were not afraid of anyone,” Šmicer boasts. But fate was against him in the unfortunate goal in the semi-final against Greece.

Once again, Tomas Sivok’s optimism is undeniable. “We failed at the previous championship,” he admits. “We didn’t qualify for the champions Spain, the draw with Croatia was a small miracle, it was decided against Turkey,” he says of Euro 2016 in France. ” At nil-nil I had a chance, hit the bar, then the Turks got lucky and the game swung to their side,” he recounts.

“But today’s team is stronger than ours, they can stand up to the best,” Sivok believes that coach Šilhavy’s charges may not leave empty-handed. Eleven percent of Chance bettors even put them on the throne.

In any case, this year’s European Championship will be a paradise for them. “For the previous championship, Chance had a recruitment of CZK 165 million, for the World Cup three years ago it had CZK 210 million, and this year it already has CZK 300 million,” reveals spokeswoman Markéta Světlíková.

Tips for the winners:

Karel Brettschneider:: Belgium

Antonín Panenka:: Italy

Tomas Sivok:: France

Vladimír Šmicer:: France

Ladislav Vízek:: Italy