Czech Republic vs. Portugal: Why Portuguese Attack Will Ensure an Easy Win

The Czech Republic surprisingly finished first in Group A, but there will not be an unexpected result against Portugal in the quarterfinals.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will have too much attacking firepower for the Czechs to handle, and the Portuguese will win easily.

The Czech Republic won two games against weaker opponents and was beaten handily by Russia in the tournament opener.

The Czechs posted a 2-1 win against Greece when the 2004 champs were missing both their center backs.

Against Poland, the Czechs courageously held on to a 1-0 lead to win the group, but the Polish did not have an overly threatening attack.

The Russians, however, did have potent goalscorers, and they thrashed the Czechs 4-1. 

Now, Portugal will bring the best set of forwards the Czech Republic has faced, and the Group A winners will have not chance at stopping them.

Portugal’s offense was stagnant at the start of the tournament, mostly due to Ronaldo’s poor form and some bad luck. The Real Madrid man missed a few extremely easy chances, and Portugal has had four shots bounce off the post. As ESPN.com notes, only three teams in the history of European Championships have hit the woodwork five times in one tournament. 

While the unfortunate luck may continue, Ronaldo’s offensive woes appear to be over. The winger scored both of his team’s goals in the 2-1 victory over the Netherlands to seal Portugal’s spot in the quarterfinals.

The Czechs will not receive any gifts from Ronaldo as it looks like he's found his goal-scoring touch. Next to Lionel Messi, he is the most lethal attacker on the planet, and the Czech defense will certainly not be up to the challenge of containing him.

They will also have to deal with the crafty Luis Nani, as well as Helder Postiga, who benefits from the penetrating wingers’ passes. 

The Czech defense looked extremely suspect against Russia, which was the only side with top-class attacking talent.

Now that they face another side with quality players up front, and it will not end well for them.

The Portuguese attack has proven that they can be impressive, and the Czech defense has shown that it can be terrible at times. This will be lopsided result in favor of Portugal.