Patrik Schick Celebrates
Patrik Schick’s double either side of half-time, including an astonishing second from the halfway line, spoiled Scotland’s Euro 2020 Group D opener as the Czech Republic ran out 2-0 winners at Hampden Park.
The Bayer Leverkusen striker’s brilliant header put the visitors ahead three minutes before the break, albeit slightly against the run of play.
However, Schick doubled his side’s lead with an outrageous effort seven minutes after the break – his 11th and 12th goals for his country. The forward somehow beating David Marshall with a shot from just inside Scotland’s half after a counter-attack by the hosts broke down.
As a result, having waited 23 years to appear in the finals of a major tournament, Scotland will now have to wait a little longer to pick up their first points after this disappointing Group D loss.
Schick scored one of the greatest goals in the long history of Hampden as the Czech Republic dealt a huge blow to Scotland’s hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2020 knockout stages.
His sensational shot from more than 45 yards looped over the back-pedalling Marshall early in the second half, and knocked the stuffing out of Steve Clarke’s team on their long-awaited return to major tournament football.
Without the injured Kieran Tierney, Scotland played with poise for much of the first half, and came close through Andy Robertson and Lyndon Dykes, but fell behind after 41 minutes when they failed to deal with a Czech cross, which Schick classily headed past Marshall.[SkySports]