Czechs make steady progress

Czech Republic are taking a minimalist approach to the UEFA European Under-21 Championship after a 1-1 draw with Greece was enough to see them qualify for the last four with a record of four points, three goals, one defeat, one victory and a draw from their Group 2 matches.

Tuesday stalemate
After Tuesday night's stalemate one Czech official compared the side's stealthy progress to that of the senior national team when they reached the final of EURO 96™. Miroslav Beránek's team certainly go into an anticipated semi-final meeting with Italy with room for improvement. But Beránek was happy to treat the draw against Greece as a win when he spoke after the match. "From the start our aim has been to get to the semi-finals," he said. "We played all our three games like that and the same principle applied here. We knew that a draw or a win would be enough.

Psychological pressure
"Against Greece we played well in the first half and scored the first goal with a penalty," he continued. "Greece tried harder after our mistake allowed them to score in the second half. But a draw was like a win for us. We were under heavy psychological pressure in the final minutes and maybe this will be to our benefit for later games and the probable semi-final against Italy."

Players tired
Although in the end, scribbled calculations were not necessary, Beránek admitted that he had been in touch with events in the game between France and Belgium in Geneva. Now, though, his thoughts are on Saturday's semi-final and a four-day break for his players. "The players are a little tired," he explained. "With the Czech Cup final last Monday, we had not a long time to prepare."

Penalty practice
It was a theme expanded on by Czech goalscorer Zdenek Grygera, who also admitted that he had practiced penalties in training on the eve of the match: "We are tired but it is a nice tired as we are in the semi-finals," he said. "We have the chance for some rest now and are looking forward to the second part of the tournament which begins on Saturday."

Demoralised Greece
Meanwhile, the demoralised Greeks, chagrined at conceding a hotly-disputed penalty, head home despite a spirited effort in the closing minutes. Coach Angelos Michalopoulos give an epitaph for their tournament: "Unfortunately, we did not qualify [for] the next round. We played a poor match against Belgium, were nervous against France because of the first match and today we tried harder and played better but not as good as we know we can," he said.

"We were unlucky"
"We were unlucky," Michalopoulos addded. "We saw on the television replays that the penalty was not a penalty - and we didn't show the real face of the team. We could have qualified for the next round if the referee had not given the penalty, but that's football."

Message for the players
He finished with a message for his players, saying: "I would like to congratulate my players. I hope they will be healthy in the future and I will love them forever. I know they can go on and make great careers in football."