Team Spain travels to Prague Saturday, September 16 to face Team Czech Republic at Rugby Sparta Field in a battle to decide ninth place in the 2023 IFAF Europe U19 Championships.
Team Czech Republic led by head coach Jan Štiegler, overwhelmed Switzerland 39-3 earlier this year to qualify for this game. Meanwhile Spain also had an easy time of it defeating Belgium 48-6 to advance to this game.
In the big win over the Swiss, Stiegler used three quarterbacks, Jakub Yamato, Matyáš Bílý and Amos Feranec, and all three scored at least one touchdown each. The trio of quarterbacks is also on the roster for the upcoming game against Spain. Out of 44 players on the Czech team’s roster, 20 are from the Prague Black Panthers.
The Czechs will be facing a tough opponent in Team Spain. The Spanish team’s rout of Belgium is a clear indication of the quality of head coach Honorio Arias’ squad.
“We really want to face the Czech Republic, test our level and make up for the defeats we suffered in 2022 in Italy that prevented us from staying in Group B and being among the top 8. For the 2004 generation of boys, it will be their last game as juniors and we want them to leave the National Team in the same place they found it. We also have young players from 2005 and 2006, with a lot of potential, and we are fully excited to stand up to the Czech Republic and win.”
Team Spain @ Team Czech Republic, Sept. 16, 14:00 CET (2 pm, 8 am EDT)
