Czechs are Hammering home point
TOMAS SOUCEK is plotting more glory with the Czech Republic after West Ham’s contribution to their success was hailed.
The nation made the final of Euro 96 on English soil and now they could be back at Wembley in the knock-out stages soon.
The Czechs, who only qualified from England’s Group D in third place, face Denmark in Baku on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals.
It is their first quarter-final since Euro 2012 when they lost 1-0 to Portugal.
But a 2-0 win in the last 16 over Holland has fuelled belief in the squad after they ended the Dutchmen’s 100 percent record.
Assistant coach Jiri Chytry believes their rise has been helped by midfielder Soucek and defender Vladimir Coufal moving to Premier League West Ham last January and October respectively.
He said: “The experience from the Premier League clearly helps them and the national team also benefits from it.
“Our strongest weapon is the team. But in order to play such big matches, the team must have extraordinary individual performances.”
Tomas Holes and Patrik Schick scored second-half goals as they took advantage of a red card for Netherlands’ defender Matthijs de Ligt to upset their more fancied opponents in Budapest on Sunday.
Holes powered in a 68th-minute opener after being set up by Tomas Kalas.
Schick made sure of the Czechs’ surprise success with a close-range finish 10 minutes from time with his fourth goal of the tournament.
Key man Soucek,26, who has 38 caps, insists their nation must believe they can progress even further this weekend in Baku.
The 6ft 4in ace said: “There will be plenty of time to prepare but our journey through the tournament definitely does not have to end.”