Czech Republic's Patrik Schick equalising against Georgia by chesting the ball over the line. HAMBURG – Czech Republic striker Patrik Schick handed his team a lifeline with his equaliser against Georgia on June 22 salvaging a 1-1 draw in a Euro 2024 Group F match. While the result at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg kept alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages, it also means that the Czechs, who have only one point from two matches, will need a result in their final group game against Turkey on June 26 to advance to the round of 16.
Tournament debutants Georgia, who have a similar record after collecting their first point of the competition, will also need to upset Portugal in their final group game if they are to advance. While Schick’s close-range 59th-minute leveller may have been nowhere near his spectacular 49.7-yard (45.
45m) strike against Scotland three years ago – officially the farthest from which a European Championship goal has been scored – it could yet help the Czechs go the distance in Germany. The Czechs had come close on many occasions but found Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was named the Man of the Match, a major stumbling block. Czech coach Ivan Hasek, who led the team to the quarter-finals of the pandemic-delayed Euro 2020, handed starts to forward Adam Hlozek and winger Vaclav Cerny, both of whom were unused substitutes in their 2-1 defeat by Portugal on June 18.
It nearly paid dividends in the 23rd minute with Hlozek bundli.
