Czech Republic players Marek Jankulovsky and Milan Baros are on their guard in the semi-final match with surprising Greeks on Thursday. Photo by AFP.
Halftime in Porto between the Czech Republic and Greece ended goalless.
After a bright start, the Czechs has been increasingly shackled by Rehhagel's side and with their inspirational captain Nedved now off the pitch through injury, they were forced to regroup at the interval.
Nobody expected Greece to make it to this stage of the tournament, but Otto Rehhagel's men have proved to be dangerous rivals. In Porto tonight they are playing in a 4-3-3 formation, with Konstantinos Katsouranis being named ahead of the more experience Stylianos Giannakopoulos in the centre of midfield.
The team of Otto Rehhagel arrived in Portugal without a single win in major championships and now is just a match away from the many-coveted EURO 2004 Cup.
Finalist Portugal is watching tonight's meeting of the Greek team as eagerly as the Czech fans, the ones bracing for a possible revanche for the opening defeat from Greeks, the others dreaming about the next-in-series defeatless match at this year's European Championship.
Whichever wins the match on Thursday will hit historic records as the EURO 2004 finalist to meet Portugal on Sunday.
The Czechs came to the Porto's Dragao Stadium with the supreme confidence of four straight wins. Squad morale is also high thanks to coach Karel Brueckner's man-management skills.
With no Greece player scoring more than one goal in the tournament, Rehhagel's marvels have more than made their mark in defence. Indeed, they kept a clean sheet in their only previous meeting with the Czech Republic, a goalless home draw in an April 2002 friendly.