Czech - Portuguese, eight ounces, half a pound 4
> Crystal in front of Ronaldo’s gun
Czechs are hoping the clock can turn back to 16 years ago.
16 years ago, the Czechs entered the quarterfinals with second place in the group and ahead of Italy in a direct confrontation.
In the group stage, coach Paulo Bento and his team only lost to candidate Germany with a score of 0-1 before winning against both Denmark and the Netherlands.
Poborsky executed a perfect lob to help the Czechs win 1-0 in 1996.
Direct confrontation
* The Czechs met Portugal in two matches, all of which took place in the Euro finals.
* 1996 lineup:
Czech: Kouba, Suchopárek, Kadlec, Horňák, Látal, Němeček (Berger 90), Němec, Bejbl, Šmicer (Kubík 46), Poborský, Kuka.
Portugal: Baía, Secretário, Couto, Hélder, Oceano (Folha 65), Dimas, Figo (Cadete 82), Sousa, João Pinto, Sá Pinto (Domingos 46), Rui Costa.
* 2008 lineup:
Czech: Čech, Grygera, Ujfaluši, Rozehnal, Jankulovski, Galásek (Koller 73), Sionko, Matějovský (Vlček 68), Polák, Plašil (Jarolím 85), Baroš.
Portugal: Ricardo, Bosingwa, Pepe, Carvalho, Ferreira, Petit, Moutinho (Fernando Meira 75), Ronaldo, Deco, Simao (Quaresma 80), Nuno Gomes (Hugo Almeida 79).
* When the Czech Republic had not yet separated from the former Czechoslovakia, the two sides met 9 times with 3 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses.
Performance
The Czechs will play their third Euro quarter-final match in history.
For Portugal, this is the 5th consecutive quarterfinal appearance.
When the Euro took place according to the group stage format and went straight to the semi-finals, Portugal had once reached the semi-finals in 1984.
The debt between coach and players on both sides
Coach Bilek helped Czechoslovakia overcome Portugal in the 1990 World Cup qualifiers. On October 6, 1989, he scored both goals in the match Czechoslovakia won 2-1 against Portugal in Prague, including a penalty in the first minute.
Czechoslovakia won tickets to the 1990 World Cup in Lisbon on November 15, 1989 with a 0-0 draw while Portugal needed to win by 3 separate goals.
Defender Michal Kadlec’s father, Miroslav, and Czech football team leader Vladimír Šmicer were both present in the quarter-final match 16 years ago against Portugal.
Czech goalkeeper Petr Čech and Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles currently play for Chelsea.
Tomáš Rosický, Czech captain, helped Arsenal win 6-2 in the end against Porto of Bruno Alves, Rolando, Meireles and Silvestre Varela in the round of 16 of the 2009/10 Champions League season.
Thuy Duong
