SYSTEMS

GET ready for soccer’s biggest ever shock at Euro 2020; that’s the verdict of a SuperComputer that has analyzed all the teams and their results over the last 20 years.

The startling prediction sees massive underdogs Czech Republic crowned as champions after beating another of the outsiders, Denmark, 3-2 in a thrilling final.

Soccer experts at Sportradar, the world’s leading sports data provider, “played out” the whole of the tournament through their innovative Simulated Reality solution using Artificial Intelligence algorithms.

Sadly, for pre-tournament favorites England, it was another semi-final defeat as they crashed out to the beaten finalists with once again their luck deserting them in a major competition.

But even though the Euros is renowned for its unpredictability, the Czech Republic’s forecast success would be right up there with Greece’s sensational victory against all the odds in 2004.

And remember, the Euros is the place for seismic shocks with England suffering humiliating defeats by minnows Republic of Ireland in 1988, Sweden in 1992, and Iceland in 2016.

Also, the Czech Republic and Denmark, this year’s finalists according to Sportradar, have “form” when it comes to Euro shocks themselves.

Denmark didn’t even qualify in 1992 and was drafted in only two weeks before the competition began when Yugoslavia was forced to withdraw. They ended up going all the way, beating the mighty Germany 2-0 in the final to complete an improbable journey.

And how about the Czech Republic in 1996? They were beaten in their opening game by Germany but turned things round to beat Italy 2-1 in their next game and ended up getting to the final although there was no fairy tale ending this time as Germany beat them for a second time to take the Euro crown for the third time.

England, under Gareth Southgate, is predicted to continue in their role of “nearly men” as they reach the last four before losing 3-2 to Denmark. 

So, the Three Lions are projected to remain the perennial “bridesmaids”, not having won a major international tournament since the 1966 World Cup, which was held in England.

In the Euro 2020 Group stages, England qualified for the knockout stages after two wins and a loss. They beat Croatia 5-2 in their first game but had to battle hard to beat the ‘Auld Enemy’ Scotland 1-0 before going on to down eventual winners, the Czech Republic, 2-1.

In the Round of 16, England progressed by beating France 3-1, going on to beat Poland 3-2 in the quarter-finals before they succumbed to Denmark in the semis.

Despite their loss against England in the Group stage, the Czech Republic also beat Spain and Germany in the knockout stages to set up a semi-final against Portugal, which the Czechs won 1-0.

Werner Becher, Sportradar’s regional chief executive officer for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, said: “After such a long delay there’s a real sense of excitement about this tournament amongst fans. We’ve tapped into the breadth of our technical capabilities to simulate the tournament, processing millions of data points from the last 20 years in order to identify the winning team. 

“Football is unpredictable, it’s one of the things we love most about the game, but few fans would have put the Czech Republic and Denmark in the final.”