The Czechs missed the Euro again: A step is missing. Something always went wrong, regrets Svitková

Kateřina Svitková is a pioneer who sets big goals for herself -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and also achieves them. The four-time best domestic soccer player of the year became the first Czech to reach the English league, in which she won the title with Chelsea. As the first woman on Czech television, she co-commentated the men’s European championship in the summer. But the female still eludes her on the field.

Already three years ago, the national team was close to him, but in overtime against the Swiss, Svitková hit the crossbar and then a disappointing penalty followed. And now, in the battle for the Euros, she scored a goal away from home and in the second leg for the strong Portuguese women, but she again regrets the crossbar at the very end. Going a great morning a little lower, it would be prolonged again.

The 28-year-old midfielder Slavia did her best for success. In the national team, she scored seven times in the last six matches, rounding the number of goals in the national jersey to thirty, which is, however, a weak consolation. “Great sadness,” she said in an interview for Seznam Zprávy.

How much does it hurt the day after?

It cannot be described. It’s something you’ve wanted all your life, you’ve wanted it since you were young and something always went wrong – needless goals, needless mistakes, or just plain bad luck.

Did you have a specific turning point replayed at night instead of sleeping?

There were more things that could have been done to prevent it from happening. It wasn’t a specific moment.

We should have taken the chance. Or at the beginning of the second half, when we were better, we should have pushed even harder. That’s if… You never know how it’s going to play out. I thought we were going to push them the whole half. I didn’t expect that there would be a moment that would throw us off and we would be out of the game. Unfortunately, it happened and that’s just the way it is.

You may also regret the crossbar that you hit with a great shot at the end.

Sure, I haven’t even seen it on video yet, but it was a tough situation. I was happy that I was able to make such a shot out of it at all, but there was a piece missing. I didn’t quite hit it clean. Maybe that’s why the trajectory of the ball was like that. The centimeter ruled that it would not be a goal.

From a personal point of view, you could hardly have done more to progress. You scored in Portugal and in the second leg. But that’s hardly a consolation, is it?

Before the injury, I always played like this, I just forgot about it. I don’t think I’m playing above standard, I’m just playing my standard, unfortunately it’s not enough to advance. I also always scored goals. This is what I expect from myself.

You said that you expected to push the strong Portuguese women for the whole half. Does it indicate a change in team thinking, a greater belief in success even against such a quality opponent?

Yes. Around the 25th minute, when we pushed them, we found out that it was possible, that they didn’t really know how to play themselves, and the terrain helped that. We definitely know our strength, we just lack that step. It’s hard to say what it is, if we need a new impulse to turn it finally on our side.

You were also close to advancing to the European Championship in the last cycle, when you did not manage the penalty shootout against the Swiss. Have you progressed as a team since then?

Switzerland was exactly the same as Portugal -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ At that time they had great quality and we were also the better team in that double match. Especially in the second match, we pushed them hard even in overtime, when I also hit the crossbar. Lucka Martínková also hit the crossbar. We were really unlucky, penalties are a lottery. I believe that we are a more experienced team, that we would give it to penalties now. If we had equalized, the Portuguese women would have been broken, but that’s what if. It doesn’t seem like a big difference to me, because last time we had enough to advance. It’s more of a shame that we were coached to advance straight away, that we had to go to the play-offs, because we are among the best in Europe, but we are not in the final tournament.

Yes. I don’t know how much more to prove it when we can play with top opponents… Well, we have to believe, there’s nothing else left for us. It’s hard to say what will happen in four years, that’s a long time. Now we have the World Cup ahead of us, which is much harder to get to. There are very few places, but it is not unrealistic. It also depends on the injury.

A change of coach should provide that new impetus. How do you perceive the years of work that the outgoing Karel Rada did with the national team?

Coach Rada did an incredible job, he moved our football to the side. When he came to us, we couldn’t even beat Romania and teams like that. We received terrible dards from all advanced opponents, we did not know how to defend. He moved us to a completely different place. He deserves credit.

He just didn’t change much. Even against Portugal, he didn’t do it for long. Did you get the feeling from the pitch that the team needed to be refreshed?

The fact that we don’t take turns has always been there, it’s nothing new, it hasn’t changed. As a player, I felt that we had quality footballers on the bench. I expected them to come and break it on our side. It still didn’t come and in the meantime we got a goal. But that doesn’t mean that if we took turns it would change. You never know what would happen.

Are the conditions in Czech women’s football changing? Is the domestic competition on the rise, although there are still frequent high score differences?

You have high differences in every league. In women’s football, there are still not enough high-quality players for everyone to have balanced results. But even in the Premier League they get dards and there are great players. It’s not about that at all. It’s a matter of progressing overall, so that there are quality coaches in the clubs, players develop, and quality matches follow on from that. This can then help the native to reach the final tournament.

Is the domestic league approaching professional conditions, except for Sparta and Slavia, where are they now?

I don’t think there will be a fully professional league in the near future. Clubs have to put money into it to support the women’s team from the start. Then it could possibly be packaged, but until it is, FAČR is not enough to protect it. And unfortunately we don’t have any sponsors.

This sounds quite pessimistic in contrast to looking at the world, where women’s football is on the rise, both in terms of viewing figures at the stadium and on television. After all, even in Porto, the stadium for the match with the Czech Republic was sold out for 40,000 spectators.

But the point is that it is on television, for which everyone in England pays a lot of money, then money easily comes to the association and to the clubs. Here it is set up completely differently. We cannot compare ourselves with such countries, because not so many people go to men’s football here either.

When we interviewed you after the men’s European Championship, which you co-commentated on as the first woman on Czech TV, you told me that you had reached a stage where you didn’t really care what direction your football career would take and that it was wrong . how are you now

At that time, I didn’t know how I would be in the game, how I would feel, if my body would hold up. Fortunately, I have great physical therapists and other people around me who help me keep my body working. I felt good. On the contrary, now I had a great desire for it. I knew the body was holding. So a big disappointment. I wanted to get to the Euro at any cost.

Can you keep the fire in you until the next qualification?

You continue to work as a television expert at Canal+ Sport. How does it fulfill you?

It’s a great, amazing environment, it recharges me. It’s a dream job and I’m so grateful for it. I’m going there in the evening and I’m looking forward to reacting.

How do you relate it to the professional career of a soccer player?

It’s demanding, but so would any job combined with football. It’s easier for me in that I enjoy it extremely.

Will this be your path when you hang up your football boots and use your education as a data analyst?

It articulates well. If there is interest in me, I would like to continue.

You have already scored thirty goals in the national team. Did you dream about it as a girl?

I set big goals for myself, so even as a small child I looked at the statistics and knew that Chlumecká was the best shooter in history. He has 52 goals. One of my dreams was to get close to her. The fact that I’m already behind her in the ranking is unbelievable for me. It was a big milestone. Even though I thought that 52 goals is something that probably won’t even be surpassed. I have it in my head a bit. But I’m happy for any number of goals just below her, because she was elsewhere. I regret that I never saw her play.

Win the title, have the double. We will do everything for it.