Footballers want to partially make up for the loss from Moldova in the Faroe Islands

Illustrative photo – Qualification of the European Football Championship, Group E match between Moldova and the Czech Republic in Chisinau, March 27, 2023. The basic composition of the Czech team before the match.

Tórshavn – Czech footballers will play the third match of the European Championship qualification on Saturday. Coach Jaroslav Šilhavy's men will play in the Faroe Islands and will try to partially atone for the unexpected 0:0 draw in Moldova. The national team will have to cope with the artificial grass in Tórshavn, even so it takes nothing but three points against the outsider. The Czech national team has won all seven previous duels, crushing the Faroe Islands 5-0 last November in the preparation in Olomouc.

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Photogallery: Czech national football team 2023/24

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In March, Šilhavé's men first beat the group's biggest favorite Poland 3:1 at home at the start of the qualification, but then they only drew goalless in Moldova. Even so, they hold the top spot in the five-member table, which also includes Albania.

The first two teams from each group will advance to next year's European Championship in Germany, and the remaining three places in the tournament are up for grabs in a play-off according to order. 12 countries will compete in the League of Nations, which do not succeed in the classic qualification. The Czech national team has never been absent since the division of the federation on the Euro. On the contrary, the Faroese have not yet started in the big tournament.

After the last hesitation, Šilhávé's men do not want to allow another point loss in Tórshavn. “We have to be careful, the game in Moldova is a warning. No game is easy now, every team has 11 quality players. It's about artists, it's in the wind, so we have to be 100 percent ready. We all want three points, nothing another,” captain Tomáš Souček told journalists.

Last year in November, the Czech team defeated the Faeroes 5:0 in the warm-up at home, and striker Mojmír Chytil, who is not missing in the nomination even now, scored a hat-trick in his national team debut. The team has not yet conceded in seven mutual duels.

“We will see if the Faroese will be in a similar or completely different line-up to how they played a friendly match with us at home. But it is an away match, so it will be about something completely different. We certainly have to give our opponent respect,” remarked Souček.

The Czech team will have to cope with the artificial grass in Tórshavn, which they got used to right from Monday's meeting in Prague. The archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean also has erratic climatic conditions. The national team last played in the Faroe Islands in September 1998 and won 1-0 in fog on the border of regularity with a goal in the 85th minute.

The Faroese know how to surprise at home. They won the last two matches there 2:1 and the last time they unexpectedly beat Turkey in their stadium. “It will definitely be a completely different match than at home. Now it is a qualification, the conditions will be different because it is played on artificial grass, which many of us are not used to. When the player is really wet, the ball is sometimes twice as fast as on normal grass. Of course, the rebound is also different. Even so, we have to manage it,” goalkeeper Jiří Pavlenka pointed out.

For the Faroe Islands, who are ranked 125th in the FIFA rankings, several important players dropped out of the nomination due to injuries. The Czech team is missing top scorer Patrik Schick and midfielder Antonín Barák, who was not called up by coach Šilhavy due to allegedly inappropriate behavior in the team.

The national team will end the June meeting with a preliminary match in Montenegro on Tuesday. Before him, the six players Vladimír Coufal, Tomáš Holeš, David Jurásek, Václav Jurečka, Ladislav Krejčí jr. and Jan Kuchta will leave the team, who will apparently get a lot of space in the Faroe Islands.

The match in Tórshavn will have kick-off on Saturday at 19:45 local time, it will be an hour later in the Czech Republic.

Statistics before the match of Group E of the European Championship qualification:

Faroe Islands – Czech Republic

Kick-off: Saturday 17 June, 20:45 (Tórshavn).

Referees: Kardesler – Ögel, Ozay – Bitigen (video, all Tur.).

Position in the FIFA ranking: 125th – 38th

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