Czech Republic on Saturday at 20:45 in Prague hosts Croatia in the first round of the League of Nations, and ahead of the match iSport published a survey among former players and coaches. A part of Czech experts are not optimistic ahead of the match against Croatia, which will be the first opponent of Czech under the Spanish coach. The Spanish coach took over the Czech national team after the World Cup.
The former coach of Slavia and Viktorie Plzeň, Dušan Uhrin, considers that Czech is significantly weakened. Uhrin said that he does not see Czech as the winner, which Deni is facing a very difficult task. He added that the group is deadly for Czech, that the national team is still bearing the scars of the World Cup, and that he does not believe in victory at the start.
The former Czech representative and Olympic champion Ladislav Vízek stated that after all the absences it is hard to assess how Czech will look. Vízek said that he would accept a draw and added that he does not expect much from Czech. He also recalled that Croatia has always been good.
The former goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík believes that Czech will not lose. Vaclík relies on the home ground, on which the national team has not lost in a competitive match for a long time. The former Czech representative Horst Siegl recalled the 0:0 draw against Croatia in the previous year in the qualifiers for the World Cup. Siegl said that Croatia is strong on the ball, but that it is perhaps playable, with the note that England and Spain will be even more difficult opponents.
Croatia and Czech are in a group with Spain and England. Czech have never beaten Croatia, and the last match ended in 0:0 in Prague in the qualifiers for the World Cup. Several months earlier, Croatia beat Czech 5:1 in Osijek. Czech are missing seven players due to health problems, and Denia cannot count on Patrik Schick.
