Vrba clings to Czechs' 'slight advantage'

Facing the holders in the opening game of a UEFA European Championship is rarely easy, and the Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba duly selected the encounter with Spain as the most testing of a "very difficult" group, although he believes "the decisive matches" in Group D will be the next two.

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Pavel Vrba, Czech Republic coach
We definitely have a very difficult group. Spain are one of the favourites to win the tournament. Us, Turkey and the Croatians will probably be fighting for the other qualifying spot. Maybe we have a slight advantage, because we start against Spain – the decisive matches against Turkey and Croatia will come later.

We know the Turkish team very well because we faced them in qualifying, so that can be an advantage for us. Facing Spain in the first match will be very difficult, of course, but the matches against Croatia and Turkey will be the crucial ones.

Petr Čech, Czech Republic goalkeeper
It is a very hard group, but we were in Pot 3, so we had to expect that. We are not going to be favourites in any of the games, so we will not be under any pressure and it will be down to us how well we play, how we prepare and how many points we get.

It may look tough on the paper, but it will be played at the end of the season when players' form will be crucial. It would be foolish to give up hope before it has even started.