Tops
The Czech Republic is Schick ...
He has only scored 9 goals in 29 Bundesliga appearances at Bayer Leverkusen this season.
And he launched his Euro 2020 with a double.
With a nice uncrossed header, Czech striker Patrik Schick opened the scoring a little before half-time, on a cross from Vladimir Coufal (42nd, 0-1).
A fair reward for his in-depth calls and his activity which scattered the Scottish defense.
Then he stopped time.
At about 45 yards in an insignificant situation, Schick saw the forward position of goalkeeper David Marshall.
A lobed strike from the left later and the Czech Republic made the break (52nd, 0-2).
We will have to work hard to score a better goal in the European Championship.
... but it's also Vaclik
With an efficient center forward and an Imperial keeper, there is a good chance that a team will emerge victorious. The proof this Monday afternoon at Hampden Park. Tomas Vaclik is perhaps the real man of the match, so much he disgusted the Scots. The Sevilla FC goalkeeper first won his duel against Liverpool left side Andrew Robertson by deflecting the ball over his bar (32nd). Then his left hand turned out to be firm on a backward dive after a cross deflected by a defender (49th). He again used a superb reflex with his right leg on a strike from Lyndon Dykes (66th). In the game of "expected goals", with these advanced statistics providing the number of goals a team "should" have scored in relation to their chances, Scotland finished at 2.31 goals. Thanks or because of Vaclik,it has zero.
Flops
Scotland's offensive limits
Without getting stuck in the cliché of old-school British football, Scotland is not the great Spain of 10 years ago.
Its direct game, made of forward races and intensity, pushed the Czech Republic to its limits.
But faced with a team that had the answer for this challenge, it was quickly confronted with its limits.
Center forward Lyndon Dykes won only 6 of his 16 contested duels, in addition to wasting a big opportunity against Vaclik (66th).
Midfielder John McGinn was blocked on his 4 strikes.
In total, Scotland have only scored 4 of their 19 attempts.
The Czech central hinge, made up of Tomas Kalas and Ondrej Celustka, was delighted by countering no less than 5 shots.
Hampden Park was not enough
The pre-game atmosphere was chilling. Even with a limit of around 12,000 spectators, or 25% of its capacity, Hampden Park, the eternal home of the Scotland team, inspired an atmosphere of its own. To hear the Scottish public which rises on the slightest aerial duel won was enough to galvanize the men of Steve Clarke. But football is not played in the stands. We did not hear much from the British fans after Patrik Schick's second goal before the hour mark. The magic did not work for Scotland, who will play again in their den next Tuesday against Croatia for the last day of the group stage. In the meantime, there is a small trip to ... Wembley, this Friday (9 p.m.), in a match that smells of powder on English soil.
