The best Czech result in history. Prague finished fourth in the Champions League

They may still be overwhelmed by feelings of disappointment, but they will surely soon be overwhelmed by pride. The players of the Prague club G.I.C La Plate de Cünde returned from the EMF Champions League in small football from Montenegro with the best Czech result in history. They fought their way to the last day in Herceg Novi and finished in an unpopular fourth place. The other Czech representative, FC Laguna Pardubice, failed to advance from the preliminary group.

G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha went through the Champions League with flying colours from the start, but the team’s last two matches went wrong.

“Itstill hurts, because you can say that we really missed millimetres. Penalties are a shame as we have come so far and played all the possible games. In a few days we may say that this is still the biggest success of Czech football, but for now it hurts,” said Tomáš Jurčík, a player of the Prague team.

The duel for bronze ended in regulation time without any goals, with the home team SB Sabornog Hrama winning 3:2 in the penalty shootout.

“In the fourth series we were boiling from water, who will go. The boys were confident, but we didn’t score, while they converted. We had the youngest team in the Champions League, we were playing wobbly and it was all about the head, we heard some shouts, after all the opponents were the home team. It’s a pity, in normal time it was an even match, both teams had chances, but about three minutes before the end we hit the inside bar, so we missed the millimetres,” Jurčík lamented.

G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha went through the basic group C without defeat. First, they overcame the Azerbaijani team Beerbasha 2:1, then drew with the Romanian team AEK Oradea 2:2 and finally beat the Bulgarian team DXC Technology 3:2.

“When the draw came out, we joked that we could rebook our tickets from Monday on Friday. The Azerbaijani team had representatives who won the Euro in small football, there was respect from our side, strangely enough we won. The Romanians also had several national team players, they have been to the Champions League final several times in a row, last year they lost on penalties. Fortunately, we won against the Bulgarian team. Thegroup was difficult and we were the outsiders, nobody expected us to advance, but we came from the first place,” Jurčík rejoiced.

The Prague team knocked out Slovakian rival 7edma Patrioti in the eighth round after a 4:3 victory. In the quarter-finals, they beat the Greek team Flamingos FC 3:0.

“We had respect for the Slovak team, they are still neighbours and play a similar style of small football as us, they are running, they are a younger team. We played relatively more on the ball and scored goals. Five minutes in we were two up, but then we settled down and they equalised. When we got the rebound, they came close again, luckily we scored another goal. I dare say that after that we played the best game of the tournament with the Greek team, it was played at 10pm, which suited us. The 3:0 result was great,” said the Prague club’s reinforcement for the Champions League.

In the semi-final, G.I.C La Plate de Cünde was stopped by the Romanian team AEK Oradea, who won 4:1. Oradea then dominated the final, beating Montenegrin side Dadi Gradnja 1-0. “It’s a pity that we couldn’t meet the Romanians in the final and we ran into them in the semi-final,” Jurcik said.

G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha also made a great advertisement for Czech small football with their fourth place in the tournament.

“It was an unbelievable experience, it’s impossible to describe. I played in the Champions League for the first time and I came fourth. The teams are really far away, they all have representatives. When the manager asked us at the opening how many we had and we said zero, he almost laughed at us. The organisation is great, the pitch is beautiful, neither small nor big, the lighting is great. At the same time there was a Masters Champions League for players over forty, which was also great. It was a five-minute drive from the course, and one day we were by the sea. At first we thought that one match a day would not be enough, but it was enough, it was better because of the forces,” Jurčík described.

Czech National Cup winner FC Laguna Pardubice said goodbye to the Champions League after the regular group without a single win, with only two draws and a loss.

“We are definitely disappointed. I don’t want to say that we had exaggerated goals before the Champions League, but we wanted to advance from the group and anything can happen in the play-offs, it’s also about chance, about luck. Considering how the opponents and we looked, it is very disappointing that we didn’t make it,” said Pardubice goalkeeper Vlastimil Mičjan.

Laguna first drew with the later finalist, Montenegrin team Dadi Gradnja 1:1, the same result was also recorded against the Greek team Magufana. In the last match, Laguna lost to the Moldovan team Dynamis Kishinev 1:2 and finished last in the group.

“We could have done better. The opponents in the Champions League are always good and a level or two higher than in the Czech National Cup, but I’m rather disappointed with our play, some chemistry in the team, tactical things. Thecurrent form wasn’t bad, but if everything had come together in a better frame of mind at the tournament, it would have been enough to qualify from the group,” said Michjan.

The experienced goalkeeper from Pardubice said goodbye to the European competition unsuccessfully.

“I played my last Champions League, you go through injuries, you get older, you want to help the team from that point of view and maybe you feel you could have given more. I don’t want to judge individuals, but as a team we didn’t do well, which is a shame. Theyounger players will definitely still have a chance to play Champions League with Laguna in the future, although the journey through the Czech National Cup is not easy,” commented thirty-nine-year-old Michjan.

He is a young player from the EMF Champions League

Group B::
Beerbasha – G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha 1::2
AEK Oradea – G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha 2::2
DXC Technology – G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha 2::3

Group C::
FC Laguna Pardubice – Dadi Gradnja 1::1
FC Laguna Pardubice – Magufana 1::1
FC Laguna Pardubice – Dynamis Kishinev 1::2

Eight-finals::
G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha – 7edma Patrioti 4::3

Quarterfinals::
Flamingos FC – G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha 0::3

Semi-final::
G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha – AEK Oradea 1::4
SB Sabornog Hrama – Dadi Gradnja 0::1

For 3rd place::
SB Sabornog Hrama – G.I.C La Plate de Cünde Praha 0::0, penalty 3::2

Final::
Dadi Gradnja – AEK Oradea 0::1

Team line-up in EMF Champions League 2022:: G.I.C LA PLATE DE CÜNDE PRAHAHA

Players: Jakub STENHO (C, B), Tomas JURČÍK, Jakub NOVÝ, Michal VÁVRA, Tomas PLÁNIČKA, David BARAN, Marek BROŽ, Matěj NĚMEC, Jakub SEDLÁČEK and Radovan LOKŠA

Coach – Manager: Miroslav VOSTATEK

Source: Jaroslav Kára, Malý Fotbal