Czech Republic Vs Portugal: Quarter Final Preview

The knock out phase of the Euro 2012 starts tonight as Portugal faces Czech Republic in the first quarter final.

The Czechs are determined of not repeating their mistakes, which resulted in their 4-1 loss to the hands of Russia in their opener, as they face a formidable Portuguese line up that would be playing to full fill Paulo Bento's wish of spreading joy back home.

The performance of both the teams in the tournament so far has been incidentally similar as both qualified for the quarter finals winning two of their three games played while losing one. They share the same points in their respective groups, 6 each. The Portuguese, though have a slightly better goal difference.

The Czechs came into the quarters beating Greece and Poland. The Czechs have been quite attacking in their last matches as they netted two goals against Greece within the first six minute. Pilar and Jiracek have been the top scorers for the Polish side as they scored 2 goals each.

In fact Jiracek has the record of scoring the fastest goal of the tournament so far and the fourth fastest in the Euro history. But the question is, will he be able to repeat the same against Portuguese.

"We know Portugal have dangerous players in midfield and up front, such as Nani, Helder Postiga and [Cristiano] Ronaldo. We have that in mind, and we'll adjust our tactics to be more defensive," said the Polish coach Michal Bilek. The coach also seems aware of the Portuguese attack as he further added, "We can't play like we did against Russia. We gave them space and they punished us. Nani and Ronaldo will punish us if we do the same thing again, and we don't want to repeat the first match."

The Czechs would be expecting a return of midfielder Tomas Rosicky, who was nursing a tendon injury.

"During qualifying we put together a team. We don't have any great stars, except for Tomas Rosicky and Petr Cech. The team spirit is excellent, and if we defeat Portugal it will be thanks to this team." said Bilek.

The Paulo Bento side on the other hand is relieved to have their captain Cristiano Ronaldo back into scoring form, as he netted two goals in their match against Netherlands. Earlier Ronaldo was struggling with his form in the match against Denmark, where he lost couple of very easy chances.

However, as Ronaldo join the likes of Postiga and Nanai, who seems to have a great run. Portugal is sure to enter the field with much confidence.

"In adverse moments, we have to try to stay faithful to our playing style. We have to keep a cool head, stay focused and we'll see what our opponents present us with on the pitch," said Bento, who is most likely to field the same squad which he fielded for his last five matches.

Further he added, "I think a team that played against Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands like we did will not have any problems with their mental recovery. The physical recovery has been good too."

It must be kept in mind that, Portugal defeated Czechs 3-1 in their last group encounter in Euro 2008.

Looking into the form of both the teams in the tournament, the first quarter final seems to be an equally poised one, and promises to be entertaining.