Czech Republic striker Patrik Schick scored one of the greatest goals at a European Championships when he saw Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall off his line in their opening game and let fly with an inch-perfect lob.
It was such a good goal that even the Scots applauded it.
“I’m sitting here as a Scotsman and I’m gutted,” said former Scotland international winger Neil McCann. “But you have to applaud that class, skill and execution. He’s shaped it outside the post, and brought it back underneath the crossbar beyond David Marshall. That’s as good a goal as I’ve seen for a long time.”
Former Manchester United and Scotland skipper Darren Fletcher shared the sentiment: “That’s an unbelievable execution from a top-class striker.”
Another ex-Scotland international, Pat Nevin, was on commentary duties for the BBC and described Schick’s wonder strike as it happened.
“Marshall finds himself a long, long way out of goal,” Nevin said. “It’s a brilliant finish by Schick, but if you are that far out as the keeper, you better be able to get back in. The question has to be asked why he’s so far out of goal, because Scotland don’t use their goalkeeper as an extra defender.”
Those on the pitch were similarly in awe of what Schick did – even if they were disappointed with how the game went.
“I thought we played pretty well first-half without threatening them too much,” the Aston Villa and Scotland midfielder John McGinn told BBC One. “The first goal is a poor one to lose. The second one is a brilliant strike but again we can do better. We played all right, 2-0 flattered them a wee bit, but they found quality at the right moments. We need to find it on Friday.
“I don’t think it’s a reality check. Overall we played pretty well, there are things we can improve on, but it’s the first game of the tournament. We’ve got to two games to fix what we need to fix and it’s important we don’t sulk too much. We need to do it the hard way now.”
Scotland midfielder Stuart Armstrong also spoke to the BBC, “It was a difficult one, the game was very compact, there wasn’t much space, and we were playing too many long balls for our liking. When we passed it, we did quite well but it was hard to break them down.
“Disappointed with the way the first goal went in, apart from that we defended pretty well, and they showed real qualify for the second goal. Not to say we didn’t have chances second half, we did, and tried to push. They were clinical. At this level you do need to be clinical.
“We need to take experiences of today, learn from what happened, make a few little tweaks to our game. Fundamentally there were some positive moments and we have to carry that through to Friday.”
Kenny McLean, the Scotland midfielder, was also disappointed. “It was a game we thought we could win – and we were good enough to win it,” he told the BBC. “We just didn’t turn up on the day as much as we’d like to. Two moments of brilliance from their striker, but we had our chances and we just didn’t take them.”
The Scotland coach felt much the same, with Steve Clarke telling the BBC his thoughts after the game – a defeat which marked 23 years since their last appearance at a major finals.
“It was quite an even game, not much in it,” Clarke said. “They were more clinical. Losing a goal off a second-phase set-play was disappointing and the boys had a wonderful strike from a shot from Jack Hendry that fell perfectly for him. When we had our chances, we didn’t quite take them.
“It’s a good learning experience. We didn’t come here to learn but you still have to lean your lessons and take your chances when they present themselves, make sure you stay in the game and get something from it.
“We played some good stuff, could have been a little braver on the ball first half. It was quite a tense first half, not a lot of space. Just the way the game panned out, both teams nullified each other for the first 45 minutes. We didn’t work enough to get behind them in the first half. Lots to learn for everybody.”
What of the man himself?
Schick told BBC Sport that it was a team effort. “It’s always hard to play against us, we have a lot of hard-working players. Scotland were a tough opponent. But we were ready for their tactics.”
As for his goal, it was not as off the cuff as those watching at home may have thought.
“I saw him [off his line], I checked in the first half when this situation would come. I was checking where he was standing.”
Schick is seen as a shoo-in for the Euro 2020 goal of the tournament, with some talking of it as the greatest goal ever scored at a European Championship.
That is up for debate – and there are still plenty of goals to come before the final whistle at Wembley on July 11 – but what is not up for debate is that it is the longest since records began.
The Czech cashed in on Marshall’s mistake from a full 49.7 yards, a distance which has not been bettered since records began in 1980.
It takes him past Germany’s Torsten Frings scoring from 38.6 yards against the Netherlands at Euro 2004 and Russia’s Vladimir Beschastnykh, who netted a 34.2-yarder against the Czech Republic at Euro ’96.
Spain’s Rafael Gordillo’s 34.1-yard effort against Denmark at Euro ’88 is next on the list with Gareth Bale’s Euro 2016 free kick against England clocking in at 32.8 yards.
The most remarkable thing about all of this – and one the Scots can forgive themselves for not having prepared for – is that Schick has only scored one goal from outside the box across his last four seasons combined.
Patrik Schick Photo: VCG
