We played very well at home against Belarus, we just need to improve our finishing, says Soucek

The Czech Republic will face the penultimate match of the World Cup qualification in Kazan on Monday, when it will take on the struggling Belarus. What did team captain Tomáš Souček say at the press conference?

The Czech footballers wanted to beat Wales at home, but even a draw kept them in contention to qualify for the barrage from second place in the group. In the event of a tie, it is the score, not the match, that decides.

“All of us who are here are here to win. We still carry in our heads that we want to be second in the table, which would favour us for the barrage. That’s why we want to perform like we did at home against Belarus and bring three points home to the Czech Republic,” Soucek said at the press conference.

The match will be played in Kazan, Russia, due to the political situation in Belarus. We can see a beautiful temple behind the stadium, but neither Czech nor Belarusian fans will be able to see it from the stands. Due to covid measures, the game will be played without spectators.

“In September we played in front of a great crowd, it was almost full, tomorrow we will go back to the days of the coronation when we played without spectators. But what can be done, we are used to it.”

Patrik Schick, who is the Bundesliga’s third top scorer with six goals, did not get into the game against Wales on Friday. He didn’t have a single centre that he could have done anything with.

“The support for Patrik was the same as for any other player. Whether it’s a winger, a midfielder or a striker. Above all, we all need to play as one team. We are well aware that with Wales it was not ideal.”

In their first match against each other, Jaroslav Šilhavy’s charges worked hard to win 1:0. The Czechs will need to score as many goals as possible on Monday.

“We watched their game against Estonia and our game in Ostrava. It will be all about us. I think we gave a very good performance at home, we could have scored a lot more goals. If we can improve our finishing and be more productive, it will be good,” Souček concluded.

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