Czechs aim to defy underdog status vs Portugal

With Cristiano Ronaldo finally finding his scoring touch, Portugal is widely expected to knock the Czech Republic out of the European Championship when the teams meet in the quarterfinals.

That sounds familiar to the Czechs.

They were underdogs when they faced the same opponents in the last eight at Euro 1996, but stunned Portugal's so-called "Golden Generation" which included Luis Figo and Rui Costa before progressing to the finals.

The Czechs can look back to the class of '96 as a source of inspiration ahead of Thursday's match in Warsaw.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech says the team will be fighting to defy its underdog status and reach the semifinals of the tournament for the first time since 2004.