Going into the final games, Group D was still undecided. England and Czech Republic were both level on 4 points, and the winner would clinch first place in the group. Therefore, this game was pivotal for both sides. England, after a dull performance against Scotland, needed to bounce back. The Czech Republic, led by the tournament's joint-top goalscorer Patrick Schick, was in a good position and has been impressive. Overall, the game would be an intriguing matchup.
England was heavily criticized for being lackluster offensively against Scotland, so manager Gareth Southgate introduced some new faces to the starting 11. Bukayo Saka and Jack Grealish made their first starts of the tournament. England immediately showed they wanted to make a statement. Within the first two minutes of the game, Luke Shaw lifted a ball to Raheem Sterling who was making a run behind the defense. His lofted shot hit the side of the post, and England was so close to a sensational start. Nonetheless, this offensive pressure continued. Saka drove the ball down the right side towards the goal to initiate the chance. After a couple of passes, Kane sent the ball to Grealish on the left, and he quickly whipped a ball into Sterling who headed the ball for his second goal of the tournament. England got the goal they deserved and made the score 1-0 in the 12th minute. Soon after conceding, Czech Republic tried to create a chance of their own and failed. For the next couple of minutes, England lost their dominance. Tomáš Souček and Vladimír Coufal had a large part of this as they helped surround England every time they touched the ball. However, in the 26th minute Harry Maguire, getting his first start of the tournament, drilled a ball into the path of Kane. He faked a shot with his left to create some space and shot with his right, only to see his shot saved incredibly by Tomáš Vaclík. The game continued to go back and forth, with both teams equally creating chances. The Czechs best chance came after Luke Shaw cleared the incoming cross straight to Soucek’s feet, but he curled the shot just outside of the post. The game remained relatively even until the whistle blew for half-time.After an entertaining half, both teams felt they had to improve. The Czech Republic felt they should have and needed to score. England had the lead but looked a little shaky defensively. They still had the all-important goal. Both teams made substitutions at half-time to improve their team.
England got the second 45 underway. It was soon apparent this game had exponentially slowed down. The tempo and energy of the game came nowhere near the level of the first half. Both teams had spells of possession with the ball but no clear opportunities. It seemed as if both teams were content with the current scoreline. Even though the Czech Republic was losing, they still had an almost guaranteed chance of going through the knockout rounds. England had the lead, and I believe they felt no rush trying to score. After a few more substitutions for fresh legs and shouts for a penalty, the 86th minute had the next proper exciting chance. After some defensive errors from the Czech Republic, the ball fell to the feet of Jordan Henderson, who poked the ball past the keeper. He thought he made it 2-0, but the goal was disallowed for offsides. The game ended 1-0 in favor of the Three Lions.
After watching this game, there were many takeaways. To begin, Czech Republic has a solid squad with some talented players. They could make a little run in this tournament, however, they are not a favorite. In this game, they had some opportunities to score and did not capitalize. Patrick Schick, their best performer in this tournament, was not involved for much of this game compared to prior. This may be because of Harry Maguire's defensive presence, but it hurt the Czech side. The West Ham teammates Soucek and Coufal created chances and were silver linings in the loss. Regardless, Czech Republic will most likely be in the Round of 16 and could affect the outcome of this tournament.
England began Euro 2020 as one of the favorites to win the entire competition. Whether or not this is still the case has to be seen, but they looked decent today. Their approach was evident. Southgate made the right decision by including Grealish and Saka in the lineups today. They were both involved in the goal scored, so it was clear Southgate was tactically proficient. Especially in the first half, they moved the ball around with pace and were passing the ball around well. Multiple times they played directly to Harry Kane to create chances, and it worked. Defensively, they were also solid. The partnership of Maguire and Stones in the middle with Walker and Shaw out wide were able to stop the Czech. Maguire and Shaw specifically were also able to have effects on the offense. They won the game and the group, which was the goal. They were not as convincing, but England is trending in the right direction to do well in this tournament. They have not been tested yet as they will be in the knockout rounds, however, I think they are up for the challenge.
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