Soucek: We will fight for the Czech nation, we are concentrating as much as possible

On Thursday, the Czech national football team will face the most important match of the last decade, in the World Cup barrage in Sweden. What did captain Tomáš Souček say before the game?

The Czech national team made it through to the World Cup barrage by finishing first in their Nations League group. They left behind Scotland, Israel and Slovakia, which was decided by a win in the last round against our south-eastern neighbours.

The fate was rather merciful to the Czechs with regard to Italy or Sweden in the pool. In the first round they will face Sweden, in case of advancement they will face the Poles. The last time the Czechs appeared at the World Cup was in 2006, hosted by Germany.

“All the players know what it is like on Thursday and Tuesday in our lives. We can get to the World Cup after 16 years, so we are concentrating as much as we can,” Soucek told the Czech national team’s YouTube channel.

Soucek is the talisman of the Czech national team’s rise. As one of its leaders, he took it to Euro 2020, where Jaroslav Šilhavy’s selection confirmed its role as a dark horse, advancing from a tough group and then crashing out to the Danes after an unexpected elimination of the Dutch.

Subsequently, captain Vladimir Darida retired from the national team and the belt went to Soucek. Another incredible story of a footballer who a few years back trained with Viktoria Žižkov in the park because the coaches did not see the potential in him.

“I played at the Euro and I know what an experience and success it was. The World Cup is a different level and if I could do it, it would definitely be the biggest achievement of my national career,” continued the West Ham midfielder.

After the draw in November, the experts were giving the Czechs around forty percent to advance over the Swedes, but now they are a bit more pessimistic. The reason for this is the numerous injuries that have affected the nomination of the defenders the most.

Jan Bořil, Ondřej Čelůstka, Tomáš Kalas, Vladimír Coufal (i.e. the four from the Euros) and even Pavel Kadeřábek, who has retired from the national team, will not be available. Petr Ševčík will be missing in the midfield and Patrik Schick, the top scorer of the summer championship, will be missing in the attack.

“Any player who is injured and would have been here is a loss. We all know that. But that’s football. All of us who are here got an invitation by right. We will fight for the whole Czech nation and for the players who can’t be here. I believe that we are all ready and determined for tomorrow’s match,” added Souček.

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