The Card Cheat
Well-known member
Of course it's bloody tenuous because it was a match three years ago that you keep on referencing and completely fail to acknowledge how poor they've been since, including their atrocious recent form going into the Euros.
And the Czechs were the bottom ranked team in pot 3, 40th in the world and all they proven yesterday is that the can beat ten men.
Again some balance is required. I've never suggested Croatia are World beaters but it is an undeniable fact they have many players who reached the final of the biggest and most prestigious tournament in football. Which means when you meet them in a tournament they're not going to be pushovers.
They matched the Dutch before the sending off. Again not a world class team but blindingly blindingly obvious that they're a difficult team to play against.They should have been 1-0 down literally moments before de Ligt was dismissed with Malen one-on-one and messed it up. The Czechs never had an opportunity like that. If you think beating the 10 men of the Netherlands is impressive, then fair enough, but please don't pretend they're a good side.
Also do you think that the sending off happened in a vacuum which had nothing to do with the game? It happened because the Czech striker was about to go clean through on goal and as he's one of the top scorers in the competition, could very likely have scored.