South Africa holds Czech Republic – was it the worst game of the World Cup?
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Teboho Mokoena of South Africa celebrates after his late equalizer. Michael Regan / Getty Images
A 1-1 draw felt like a fair result as the Czech Republic and South Africa walked out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday. It was not a good version of World Cup football, though.
Both teams struggled to attack with any level of cohesion. In a group that features South Korea and co-hosts Mexico, the European and African sides look the weakest of the four.
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Still, the 67,442 people who attended the match did not let the drab display ruin the mood. It was a festive atmosphere in Atlanta throughout the afternoon. If you’re hoping to read about expected goals, well, this wasn’t the best product from a statistical perspective. But a draw in this World Cup has kept both of these teams alive.
Here, The Athletic’s Felipe Cárdenas and Pol Ballús discuss the match.
Has there been a less entertaining game this summer?
We all knew it would eventually come to this. On Thursday in Atlanta, the world witnessed the worst football match of this World Cup. The Czech Republic’s goal right out of the gates fooled everyone into thinking that the match would be a goal fest. After all, both teams were obligated to win after opening-round defeats.
South Africa were more adventurous than they were against Mexico, where they parked the bus and hoped for a draw. Still, their execution in the opponent’s half was abysmal. They also attempted to play out of the back like Pep Guardiola’s best Manchester City sides, only to routinely lose possession or spray the ball into the stands. A harsh handball penalty gave South Africa a lifeline and central midfielder Teboho Mokoena converted from the spot.
The Czech Republic weren’t much better. After scoring, they fell into a defensive shell and struggled to connect more than three passes at a time. There was a general lack of sharpness and elite individual skill from Miroslav Koubek’s side, too. They were also easily juked out of their shorts. Czech Republic are not going to dazzle anyone at this tournament. If you were watching from home, they may have put you to sleep.
Felipe Cárdenas
Are Czech Republic the new throw-in specialists?
Arsenal and other clubs around the world have throw-in experts on their staff. Brazil was wearing NFL quarterback-style playbook wristbands to practice set pieces in training. Dead-ball execution has become increasingly important in modern football and the Czech Republic have brought the trend to the World Cup.
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The European side’s first goal against South Africa after five minutes and eight seconds was the fastest goal at this World Cup. It also came from a throw-in, just like their first goal against South Korea. On Thursday, Vladimír Coufal took a quick throw-in down the line when he spotted Adam Hložek sprinting towards the corner flag. Hložek’s service found Alexandr Sojka, whose tidy pass released midfielder Michal Sadílek towards goal. Sadílek finished clinically.
It was a rather routine football play but within the context of set-piece trends, it was very on-brand. Against South Korea, a Czech long throw failed to connect with anyone and rolled off the touchline. Coufal made his way to that side and launched another long throw that was perfectly placed for captain Ladislav Krejčí to run onto. Even Tom Brady would’ve been proud of that throw. So, the Czech Republic are indeed the tournament’s throw-in merchants.
Felipe Cárdenas
But will an inability to hold a lead haunt them?
The Czech Republic have failed to win either of their first two games of this World Cup — and they can’t really blame anyone but themselves.
In both matches — against South Korea last week and South Africa today — Koubek’s side took the lead. The start to both games was solid and promising, but their defense could not withstand the pressure when the opposition threw men forward.
Against South Africa, the Czechs looked far the better team in the first half, and found a very shaky opponent standing between them and a crucial first win of the tournament. South Africa were giving the ball away with worrying regularity when building up from the back, but the Czechs were unable to capitalize on any of those mistakes. Hoffenheim forward Hložek will certainly not remember this game fondly.
This is the sort of stuff that makes the difference in a World Cup. In teams with limited attacking quality, such as the Czech Republic, all hope of escaping the group stage will rest on solid defensive displays.
They ended up being lucky not to lose the game, with South Africa really on top in the dying minutes. The good news for them is that this game won’t live too long in the memory.
Pol Ballús
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