Like all West Ham fans, I felt incredibly sorry for Hammers Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal in last night’s defeat for the Czech Republic.
Coufal, in particular, had a contrasting game as he was involved in goals at both ends of the pitch, while Czech captain Soucek put in his usual high-energy performance as Portugal piled on the pressure.
Francisco Conceicao’s 92nd-minute goal ensured a winning start to Euro 2024 for Portugal, as Roberto Martinez’s side came from behind to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in Group F.
As the clock ticked down in stoppage time at the Leipzig Stadium, Porto youngster Conceicao, making his first competitive appearance for Portugal, netted from close range after the Czech Republic failed to clear a low cross from fellow substitute Pedro Neto.
Earlier in the second half, Czech Republic midfielder Lukas Provod’s stunning strike punished Portugal’s failure to capitalise on numerous chances. It was great work from Coufal, who played a simple but beautifully weighted pass to Provod who produced a thunderbolt.
Coufal was involved again shortly after for all the wrong reasons as he was outjumped in the build-up to Portugal’s equalizer. Czech Republic goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek pushed a Nuno Mendes header into the legs of defender Robin Hranac, with the ball bouncing back into the net for an own goal. It was pure pinball in the box but a real sucker punch for the Hammers boys who had put in an incredible performance.
Rafael Leão caused Coufal significant problems throughout the game, but he never gave up and battled back well.
Better luck next time boys.
It seemed to me that the Czech team employed moyesball as their main tactic , proving giving up so much possession don’t work?
9 times out of 10 it doesn’t. Who had Czechia getting a result though. Keeper made a howler though.
Boring to watch for sure, hopefully Lopi makes it more interesting to watch and we get similar success.