RSA, Czech Republic Draw in Atlanta
- Staff Writer
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Credit Ulrik Pedersen/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa via Yahoo Sports
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
By: Ever Hernandez
ATLANTA, GA — Round 2 of group stages kicked off with an early chance less than a minute in. Schnick just duffed a wide open header in front of goal, but it didn’t take long for Czech to attack again.
5th minute Goal: Czech Republic 1- RSA -0
A quick throw in and timely run saw Czech creep behind the RSA defenders. Unorganized defending from RSA allowed a ground cross to find a Alexandr Sojka at the top of the penalty box. A nifty run and a one timed pass was all Michal Sadilek needed to find enough space to fire the Trionda into the back of the net.
Again, South Africa concedes within 10 minutes, and it’s another nightmare start for Bafana Bafana. This ball had no business whatsoever making it across onto the foot of a Czech. One terrible lapse in defending is all it takes.
It felt like there was a tactical standoff for 20-30 minutes following the goal. I was surprised by how bad South Africa still looked defensively and was also surprised by how bad Czech looked offensively, even in set pieces.
The next chance came in the 46th minute when another grounded cross was received by Czechia, but the shot was blocked by RSA. The final ball for the rest of the match for Czech Republic seemed to always have been missing. There were some approaches that seemed dangerous, but the finishing was just not there. Once legs started to wear, it seemed South Africa was better in shape.
Goal: Czech Replublic 1- South Africa 1
A handball by Czech Republic gave South Africa a golden chance to finally get on the board. Turning away from the ball wasn’t enough for Sulc as the ball clipped his hand. Teboho Mokoena’s clinical penalty gave South Africa its first goal of the tournament. I’m not sure if this was a handball, but the referee was pretty confident calling it right away.
It felt momentum was shifting at this point and Czech was playing on their back foot. Both teams had decent opportunities moving forward but again, finishing was not either teams strength tonight. This is a disappointing result for both teams and now both face must win situations for round 3 of group A.
Team Ratings:
Czech Republic: C-
The Czech controlled the first 60 minutes of this game but didn’t really do much with it. They capitalized on a mistake early and I felt they were ok with winning 1-0. They kept RSA in the game for too long and it bit them in the end. I think this team could struggle with the Mexican defense next match.
South Africa: C
Conceding again in the first 10 minutes was devastating. Based on how the last 20 min went, I’m disappointed RSA wasn’t able to get more going offensively. A game against South Korea tells me the odds are stacked against with just 1 point so far.
Joga Bonito!
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