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UEFA EURO 2016 winners Portugal are once again among the pre-tournament favourites and they start their campaign at Red Bull Arena in Leipzig against the rebranded Czech Republic, now known as Czechia.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Tuesday 18th June, 2024 - UK – 8:00pm / US EST – 3:00pm / US PST – 1:00pm
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – BBC / US – FOX
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer / US – VIX
PORTUGAL PREVIEW: ONE OF THE FAVOURITES
Roberto Martinez is now used to putting together some of the very best qualifying campaigns we have seen in Europe. Firstly with Belgium and now with Portugal, he knows how to set up a genuinely talented side to swat aside the middle or lower ranked sides in Europe – which is genuinely a skill in itself because some others do make qualifying look difficult.
Now we are getting to a tournament, though, and decisions will have to be made. The typical cliché in the modern era is that it is caution that will rule the day in major tournament football but that is not the way this star-studded Portugal side will play. They have had some dodgy performances and results in the last few months, though, so there will need to be clarity in their opening game.
CZECHIA PREVIEW: CZECHIA, MATE
Despite automatically qualifying for this tournament, it was a bizarre and underwhelming campaign for Czech Republic, or Czechia as they are now known, with key players, including Vladimir Coufal, dropped in November for disciplinary reasons. After finishing second behind Albania in qualification, manager Jaroslav Silhavy resigned and has been replaced by Ivan Hasek.
Hasek leads his side into this one on the back of a 7-1 hammering of Malta, which will be a major confidence boost for the central Europeans – especially because key attackers such as Bayer Leverkusen duo Patrik Schick and Adam Hlozek didn’t even get on the scoresheet. They are now unbeaten in six matches.
PORTUGAL TEAM NEWS: THE IMPROVEMENT OF CR7
There was an expectation that one of Portugal's young guns in Antonio Silva would start alongside Ruben Dias at the back but 41-year-old Pepe is now expected to be the Manchester City defender's partner. Joao Felix finished the warm-up friendlies well against Ireland, whilst it is a shootout in midfield between another starlet in Benfica's Joao Neves or PSG's Vitinha alongside Joao Palhinha.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Costa; Cancelo, Silva, Dias, Mendes; Joao Palhinha, Vitinha; Silva, Fernandes, Joao Felix; Cristiano Ronaldo
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CZECHIA TEAM NEWS: FINDING WAYS TO LIMIT THE OPPOSITION
The injury to Michal Sadilek on the eve of the tournament is a big blow to Czechia and means Ivan Hasek has to re-think his midfield alignment. It really is all up in the air but David Doudera playing out of position alongside Tomas Soucek seems the best bet with Antonin Barak in behind Bayer Leverkusen duo Adam Hlozek and Patrik Schick.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-1-2): Stanek, Vitik, Zima, Holes; Coufal, Soucek, Doudera, Provod; Barak; Hlozek, Schick
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KEY STATS
PORTUGAL VS CZECHIA PREDICTION
Portugal are one of the leading pre-tournament favourites and Roberto Martinez has cultivated a tactical structure that Fernando Santos barely ever found, despite the veteran winning UEFA EURO 2016. The Iberians put together a more cohesive and controlled performance in their final warm-up match, too, in a 3-0 win against Ireland. Czechia have had a lot of issues off the field and have improved slightly on it since Ivan Hasek, who captained Czechoslovakia at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, was appointed. Despite that, though, this could be one of the more one-sided encounters in the opening round of fixtures.
PORTUGAL VS CZECHIA TIP: PORTUGAL TO WIN -1 HANDICAP