HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Czech coach Ivan Hasek lamented his squad’s bad luck so far at Euro 2024 and hopes for a change in fortunes in their final Group F match against Turkey, Hasek said on Saturday after the 1-1 draw with Georgia.
European Championship newcomers Georgia held the Czech Republic to a draw, taking a shock lead through a Georges Mikautadze penalty before an equaliser from Patrik Schick.
The Czechs – who gifted Portugal an own goal in a 2-1 opening loss and then gave up the decider in stoppage time – had a first-half goal disallowed against Georgia for a handball and then conceded the penalty before the break.
“Obviously we had some bad luck in some situations but maybe we will get lucky in the next game,” Hasek said.
“We dominated the game but failed to score the second goal. Twenty-six attempts speak for themselves. We have to admit we were glad that our opponents did not convert their chance on the counter in the last minute.”
The Czechs have one point from two games and need to win their final group match to progress to the knockout stages in Germany.
But a concern for Hasek centers on the health of Bayern Leverkusen forward Schick – joint top scorer with five goals at the last Euros – who limped off soon after his goal.
“He knows how to score goals but we do have players that can go there instead of him,” Hasek said. “We have a lot of guys and they deserve their chance.”
“At this moment it is not very optimistic regarding Patrik Schick’s injury but that is the way it is.”
Hasek said Antonin Barak only played 15 minutes due to a fever the night before and that he was forced to withdraw a number of players in the second half because so many had received yellow cards.
The coach also backed defender Robin Hranac who conceded the handball against Georgia, scored the own goal in the opening match and whose poor clearance attempt led to Portugal’s winner.
“I think he will get lucky in the next game,” Hasek said. “He is a player you can build upon. This was really unlucky and in the game against Portugal as well.”
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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