Tomáš Rosický told euro2008.com the Czech Republic were “heartbroken” after their dramatic elimination from UEFA EURO 2008™ by Turkey on Sunday.

‘Hard to take’
The Czechs led 2-0 midway through the second half of their winner-takes-all final group game in Geneva, but a frenetic last 15 minutes saw Turkey score three times to secure a place in the quarter-finals and leave Karel Brückner’s men devastated. “I have just left a dressing room which is heartbroken,” said Rosický, who would have captained the side in the tournament only for injury to rule him out. “It was difficult to deal with such an ordeal from the bench and I am sure it was even harder on the pitch. We were dominant in the first half and Turkey never seemed to be in the game at all.”

Remarkable
Currently working his way back to fitness in his native country, Rosický had travelled to Switzerland from Prague to encourage his team-mates at the Stade de Genève. The Arsenal FC midfielder saw first Jan Koller and then Jaroslav Plašil give the Czechs a commanding lead only for them to crumble as Arda Turan pulled one back with a Nihat Kahveci double – his first coming from an uncharacteristic error from Petr Čech – helping Turkey complete a remarkable turnaround.

‘Out of character’
“We thought picking Jan Koller was a good tactic and they struggled to deal with his height and physical presence but suddenly it all changed,” Rosický said. “Nihat was a real hero for Turkey, but we would normally never play a final ten minutes like that. It was very out of character but it is something we must learn from and we’ll become stronger because of it.”

Sad end
The game marked the end of Brückner’s six-and-a-half tenure as coach of the national side, while his likely successor, the current assistant coach Petr Rada, will be deprived of two key pillars of the team, Koller and Tomáš Galásek, who are also ending their international careers. Rosický, however, insisted the Czech Republic will remain a force to be reckoned with. “The future of Czech football is still in safe hands,” said the 27-year-old. “But we must rebuild because Koller and Tomáš Galásek are now retiring after this tournament, so we must find some new leaders and heroes.”

“We’re not infallible…” Those were the words of Ricardo when the Portugal goalkeeper was asked about marking lapses in his defence during Wednesday’s 3-1 win against the Czech Republic.

Near misses
Those marking lapses could have proved costly, with Milan Baroš alone narrowly failing to capitalise on set pieces on two occasions. In the end, only Libor Sionko was able to take advantage of these difficulties, heading in a corner for the Czechs’ first half equaliser; the only goal that Ricardo has conceded in the two games thus far.

Left exposed
However, the Real Betis Balompié goalkeeper may be concerned about the amount of times he was left exposed in dead ball situations. These doubts may been forced into the background by Cristiano Ronaldo and Deco’s brilliant attacking contributions, but any of Portugal’s potential quarter-final opponents – Croatia, Germany or Austria – are likely to ask Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men questions from free-kicks and corners.

Areas of concern
Is there a point where Portugal’s weakness in this area will see them come unstuck? What other areas do Scolari’s side need to improve on? Let us know your views.