West Ham United’s Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček's UEFA Euro 2020 journey will continue to the quarter-finals after they helped Czech Republic to a memorable 2-0 victory over Netherlands on Sunday evening.
The Czechs headed into the Budapest Round of 16 clash as underdogs after qualifying as Group D’s third-placed finishers, but they paid no attention to the odds to see off their opponents.
A red card for Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt early in the second half helped their cause, and they took advantage in ruthless fashion as Slavia Prague’s Tomáš Holeš and Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick scored the goals which took them to the last eight.
Coufal and skipper Souček were lively throughout, as their side imposed themselves on the game and made life uncomfortable for the Dutch throughout.
Souček went close to an eighth international goal in the first half when his glancing header at the near post dropped wide of the mark.
Coufal was a familiarly enterprising presence from right back as his side secured a second clean sheet of the tournament.
They now move on to the quarter-finals, where they will face Denmark in Baku on Saturday.
