EURO 2012 Quarterfinal: Czech Republic vs Portugal

In couple of hours, the first quarterfinal of EURO 2012 will kick off. At knock-out stage, all the teams need to bring their A game or face elimination. There's no room for mistake. Lets dive in a take a look at Czech Republic vs Portugal

1. Czech Republic

Against all odds, Bilek's men were able to join the last eight of EURO 2012. Up against Portugal, it's no surprise that they are the underdogs.

Czech got demolished in the game against Russia. And 1-4 did not do any justice as Dzagoev and Kerzhakov wasted many chances for Russia. In the second game with Greece, Santos' side started off too slowly and gifted Czech 2 goals within the first 8 minutes. They held on to their advantage and conceded only 1 goal to seal the win. The last game was possibly their best game when putting enormous pressure at Warsaw. However the co-host Poland did not perform particularly well to decide their own faith.

Anything can happen in a knock-out stage, but Czech really needs a miracle to go to semi-final. They do not possess players like Nedved, Poborsky or Smicer like in EURO 1996 when they beat Portugal 3-1 in quarterfinal. Their defense will be put in real test this time, and it looks all shaky right now. We saw how easy Russia broke Czech's defense.

2. Portugal 

Receiving a lot of criticism in their first loss against Germany for being too defensive instead of playing to their strength, Portugal showed that they are real contestant for the title in the last two games. In all fairness, the first game was a bit unlucky for them to lose to Germany, a draw would have been a fairer result. But all in all, it worked out well for Portugal, as their best hope Ronaldo is ready to fire.

It seems that Portugal is getting better by every match. Their last game was the best performance in their group stage, and probably one of the best performances of Ronaldo for his country team.

They look really sharp in their offense especially with Ronaldo and Nani in the wings, where Czech fans worry about the most. Pepe and Alves should not have much trouble as Czech's offense have never looked deadly. Milan Baros has passed his peak, and is rather harmless in front of the goal.

3. Verdict

I will be rooting for Portugal after their performance in the group stage. And they should have a easy match against Czech. Ronaldo will be the player to look out for and our prediction for the game is 2 goals to nil for Portugal. With this score, put money down for the Portugal Asian Handicap (-) 1 at M88 Sportsbook. I will be betting on Portugal to score first, as I believe this is another game for Ronaldo.