Old foes back on warpath

‘‘Everyone knows him so there is no need for long speeches to tell my team mates what to expect,’’ Helveg said before Sunday’s game in Porto. ‘‘When he moves forward it is difficult to stop him because he combines pace with great technique. You can try to tackle him when he is on the ball or to get close and tackle him before he gets space. The key thing is to close down his options and make him do what you want him to do.’’

Although the Danes have only beaten the Czechs once in 18 meetings, they are in confident mood after a 2-2 draw with Sweden booked their quarter-final place and Helveg says there is great spirit in the camp.

‘‘We win or lose as a team,’’ he said. ‘‘We have some stars but you might not notice them as they play for the team. Nobody in this team is too big not to take care of his team mates. You rarely see anyone struggling alone for us.’’

With Niclas Jensen ruled out because of a deep gash to his left foot, Kasper Bogelund takes over at left back for Denmark who also have a doubt over striker Ebbe Sand. Should he not recover Danish coach Morten Olsen is likely to ask the in-form Jon Dahl Tomasson, who scored both goals against the Swedes, to move forward into the main striker’s role, allowing Claus Jensen to come into an attacking midfield position or he could hand Peter Madsen a chance.

Czech coach Karel Brueckner has a full-strength squad to choose from and is likely to field a similar team to the one which beat the Netherlands 3-2. (Reuters)

SWOT ANALYSIS

CZECH REP

Strengths
A potent strike force, with Koller and Baros backed up by Nedved

Weaknesses
They have won all three matches, but after being down on each occasion

Opportunities
Allow Nedved to run loose near the Danish penalty area and keep the strikers on hand

Threats
Their status as favourites, something they have never been before

DENMARK

Strengths
Confident, with nothing to lose. Goalkeeper Sorensen has been super so far

Weaknesses
The lack of big match experience and the lack of really big names

Opportunities
Tomasson up front needs only a half chance to score

Threats
The defence appeared a bit accomodating in the Sweden match