Czech Republic boss Jaroslav Silhavy doesn’t expect any animosity between his team and Scotland during Euro 2020 clash despite Ondrej Kudela missing the tournament for racially abusing Rangers’ Glen Kamara
Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Silhavy doesn’t believe there will be bad blood between his nation and Scotland in Monday’s Euros clash at Hampden.
Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela is out of the tournament after receiving a ten-game UEFA ban for racially abusing Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara.
That storm caused outrage in Scotland and led to support being expressed for Kamara across the footballing landscape.
Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Silhavy doesn’t expect any animosity between his team and Scotland
Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela is missing the tournament as a punishment for racially abusing Rangers’ Glen Kamara in March
Kudela has retained some backing in the Czech Republic, with midfielder Tomas Soucek last week describing his ban as ‘absurd’ and claiming ‘no one has proven anything’ about what the centre-back said.
Asked if the fall-out from the Europa League tie in March would lead to animosity in the Group D opener, Silhavy said: ‘I believe not. This will be a sports fight. We hope to put on a great show for the fans.
‘We don’t feel any animosity against Scotland and I believe everything will be fair play tomorrow on the pitch.’
Czech Republic captain Vladimir Darida anticipates Scotland will have an aggressive approach
Czech captain Vladimir Darida expects a spicy contest, though, highlighting what he perceives as Scotland’s aggressive approach.
‘The Scots really go into personal fights and we want to keep it on the ground and calm,’ said the Hertha Berlin man.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic have confirmed they do not intend to take the knee before their Euro 2020 matches.
England will make the gesture before games and were again booed by some fans ahead of yesterday’s 1-0 win over Croatia.
Scotland will take the knee in solidarity with their English counterparts at Wembley on Friday but stand against racism prior to other matches.
As they did before their World Cup qualifier against Wales in March, the Czechs will point to the Respect logo on the sleeve of their jerseys.
‘We want to concentrate on the football,’ said Silhavy.
‘I understand these are important topics. However, back in March we agreed on our own show of support for the fight against racism and we do not intend to change anything about that now.’