Match 09 - Czech Republic v Portugal / Dave Farrar / 10 June 2008 / Leave a comment

I'm not sure that I can remember a team playing as badly as the Czech Republic in a tournament's opening game and ending up with three points.

The Czechs were dreadful for the first 60 minutes against the Swiss, but an inspired or lucky substitution by Karel Bruckner somehow ensured that they snatched the win, as Vaclav Sverkos from Banik Ostrava shinned the winner.

They deserve credit for grinding out a result, but rather like the World Cup in 2006, they are likely candidates to win their first game and still not qualify if either Turkey or Switzerland can find four points from somewhere. There was nothing in the Switzerland match which changed my pre-tournament opinion that the Czechs have an ageing team which is going nowhere.

Portugal, in contrast, impressed everyone, and it was no surprise to see their outright price contract on Betfair and they are now second favourites for the tournament. It wasn't so much that they beat Turkey, it was the authority with which they did it. There were no inadequacies that were glossed over by their two goal win, they were in control, and deserved to win by a wider margin. I feel that Germany weren't as good as they were made to look in their first game, but, in contrast, Portugal are the real deal. Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't really caught fire yet, but he surely will, and they look like potential tournament winners. Portugal are a confident selection to win this game and make sure of a quarter final place at a massive price of [1.96].

CORRECT SCORE

I can't see how this will be anything but a comfortable win for Portugal. I was impressed with the way that they found goals from everywhere against Turkey, and but for the woodwork, they could have won by a much healthier margin. The frightening thing for the teams still to play them is that their attacking players didn't get on the scoresheet in that first game, and the goals came from unlikely sources. What will happen when Ronaldo, Simao and Nuno Gomes find their form in front of goal? They may lack a convincing goalscorer but Portugal are looking strong and I take them to waltz through and put the Czechs under serious pressure, by a scoreline of 3-0, at [22.0].

HALF-TIME

Portugal won't waste time, and would have gone into a half time lead in their opening game but for Pepe's disallowed goal. They know that they could have one foot in the quarter finals after 45 minutes here and that's a massive incentive for them to get the job done early on. I don't see Ricardo Carvalho or Pepe being worried by players like Koller, Sverkos and Baros at any point during the game and so I'll go for Portugal to lead at half time, and then to go on and win comfortably. The [2.8] for Portugal to be in front at the break is very generous.

FIRST GOALSCORER

It might be worth continuing the theme of goals coming from all over the pitch for Portugal. Ronaldo and Nuno Gomes are the obvious favourites to score first, along with Simao, but I was impressed by the way that Joao Moutinho came forward and got involved in the play from a deep position that doesn't really suit him. He is a powerful shooter from long range and made one fabulous run in the opening game which nearly ended in a goal. Then again, how can you leave Pepe out of your thinking after he had one disallowed and then scored one? Backing him might be a case of jumping on a bandwagon at too short a price, and so I'll stick with Moutinho

CORNERS

We can't desert Portugal after their style of play from out wide led to a corner count of 12 in their opening game. I was surprised that the Czechs and Switzerland produced as many as nine corners in their game and the Czechs do seem to panic in defensive positions sometimes. They conceded six against a Swiss side don't don't play with anywhere near the width of Scolari's team. They'll have plenty to deal with against Portugal and so lay nine or under corners, and have a smaller stake on the 13 or over market. This match might produce one of the highest corner counts of the tournament.

Tags: Cristiano Ronaldo, Czech Republic, Euro 2008 Betting, Joao Moutinho, Nuno Gomes, Pepe, Portugal, Ricardo Carvalho, Simao