Czech national team got a lesson from the best team in the world! How is the public reacting?

The Czechs managed to surprise the strong Belgium in Eden and drew 1-1. However, in their home environment, the Belgians, even without star Kevin De Bruyne, handled our weakened line-up with ease. After goals from Lukaku, Hazard and Saelemaekers, they won 3:0.

We have to say that the victory of the best team in the world (according to FIFA rating) was well deserved. On the other hand, there were a lot of factors that could have had a say in the match.

In the first minute, star striker Romelu Lukaku inadvertently stepped on and injured goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik. He did not receive a card, but the tackle would have been punished by some referees with at least a yellow card. If it wasn’t the first minute, a red card could have easily been drawn. Inadvertence is no excuse.

Remember the recent match between Slavia Prague and Legia Warsaw. Back then, Tomáš Holeš unintentionally pushed the opponent and left the field with a red card in the 3rd minute. But then the home team was behind the referee, in Belgium it was not the case and the referee did not even reach for a card. Playing Belgium without Lukaku, we can very well imagine that the development of the match would have been completely different.

Even so, we managed to create relatively many opportunities. Specifically, we shot 12 times, while the Belgians shot 16 times, but it is still a good amount. According to the xG indicator (number of expected goals) the match should have ended 2.1 – 1.17, which means approximately 2-1 for Belgium.

Another and final factor in the relatively clear-cut home win is the broken Czech defence and a lot of absentees. The Czech national team is unquestionably missing Patrik Schick at the tip of the attack, Tomas Kalas would need a more experienced and better quality teammate. But there was no place to take, so Kaša came into the game. And there is no need to talk about the quality of our bench.

Public reaction

Bielsista recalled the legendary performance of David Hovorka against Inter Milan. There were many similar reactions to Filip Kaša on social media. Clearly, this match was beyond him, but we should remember that Jaroslav Šilhavy did not have a choice of significantly better options and therefore we should respect both the inclusion of Kasa and the Viktoria Plzeň stopper himself.

Without big games there is no experience and therefore no progress. Or without failure, there can be no success.

An apt commentary by Karel Häring. But again, let’s remember the Czech national team a few years back, there were many times when there was not even an effort! And some of the individual performances of our players were also of high quality (e.g. Jakub Pesek).

” Lukaku is complete nonsense. Fast, mega-powerful and technically well equipped. I guess it’s like having a tank and putting in the speed of a Lambo and the tech of a Tesla.”

Football journalist Jiri Hosek responded to the picture of football cynic The Unbiased Journalist. Defending Lukaku in his current form is no fun, but this picture has amused many a football fan.

The 28-year-old forward’s strength is proven by this incredible statistic! Yesterday he played his 100th game in the national team jersey, and for the first 100 he managed to score the second highest number of goals (67) in modern football history.

Source: Gracenote Sports