Czech Republic vs Portugal
in Geneva.
Wednesday, 11th June at 18.00
So we start the second set of group games today;
with Czech Republic and Portugal both
currently on three points.
Czech Republic are looking for more movement up front tonight; opting
for Milan Baros, in place of the towering Jan Koller.
The Czech defence fell apart in the 8th minute, after Cristiano
Ronaldo's run through the middle rattled them. Petr Cech grappled around on the floor but
the loose ball fell to Deco; who will claim the goal, even though the ball took a
deflection on the way in.
Eight minutes later, Libor Sionko managed to get the better of Pepe on
the right flank and cut the ball back across the six-yard box. Sionko was then on hand to
head in the ensuing corner. Portugal were made to pay for being so relaxed after taking
the early lead.
Portugal had problems with another Czech corner in the 28th minute, as
the ball fell to Sionko again; this time at the far post.
Petr Cech later produced a fine, reactive save to a left-footed strike
from Ronaldo and then held onto a Ronaldo free-kick, at the second attempt, in the final
seconds of the first half.
A nice, equally balanced game so far.
Half-time - 1:1
Three minutes into the second-half, Sionko worked his way behind the
Portuguese defence again; but the opportunistic ball across the face of goal went begging.
Just as Ronaldo started to look frustrated getting continually closed
down in the middle, the Manchester United star received a pass from Deco on the right and
struck it swiftly; before the Chelse goalkeeper could see it coming.
Karel Brückner's reply was to bring on Stanislav Vlcek for Marek
Matejovsky, as the Czechs searched to get on level terms again. Jan Koller was also shown
the tactical notes, as he prepared himself on the bench.
Sionko's header, in the 83rd minute, forced Ricardo to tip the ball
over the bar; as the Czechs continued to chase the equaliser.
Into injury time and Deco's quickly-taken free-kick released Ronaldo.
As Petr Cech came out to meet him, Ronaldo squared the ball to substitute Ricardo
Quaresma; who almost certainly booked Portugal's place in the quarter-finals.
Final Score:
Czech Republic 1 - Portugal 3
Goalscorers:
0:1 - Deco (8)
1:1 - Libor Sionko (17)
1:2 - Cristiano Ronaldo (63)
1:3 - Ricardo Quaresma (91)
After the game it was announced that Luiz Felipe Scolari would take
over as manager of Chelsea on July 1st.
Teams
Czech Republic:
1 Petr Cech; 6 Marek Jankulovski, 21 Tomas Ujfalusi, 22 David Rozehnal, 2 Zdenek Grygera;
7 Libor Sionko, 4 Tomas Galasek, 20 Jaroslav Plasil, 3 Jan Polak, 17 Marek Matejovsky; 15
Milan Baros.
Portugal:
1 Ricardo; 4 Bosingwa, 16 Ricardo Carvalho, 2 Paulo Ferreira, 15 Pepe; 8 Petit, 20 Deco,
11 Simão Sabrosa, 7 Cristiano Ronaldo, 10 João Moutinho; 21 Nuno Gomes.
Referee:
Kyros Vassaras (Greece)
Substitutions:
68 Mins - 11 Stanislav Vlcek on for 17 Marek Matejovsky
73 Mins - 9 Jan Koller on for 4 Tomas Galasek
75 Mins - 5 Fernando Meira on for 10 João Moutinho
79 Mins - 9 Hugo Almeida on for 21 Nuno Gomes
80 Mins - 17 Ricardo Quaresma on for 11 Simão Sabrosa
85 Mins - 14 David Jarolím on for 20 Jaroslav Plasil
 2 Yellow Cards:
23 Mins - Jan Polak (Czech Republic)
31 Mins - Bosingwa (Portugal)
Switzerland vs Turkey
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