If they are to qualify for next summer’s World Cup, Ireland must win away to Czechia (née Czech Republic) on 26 March and must then beat either Denmark or North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium on 31 March.
But in order to set up a winner-takes-all game in Dublin (rather than a miserable, contractually obliged friendly against the loser of the Denmark/North Macedonia tie) Ireland must assign their emphasis to the Czechs.
So, are the Czechs any good?
Fifa will tell you they are better than us. Czechia are ranked 44th in the Fifa rankings, above Ireland in 59th place. Czechia were the third highest-ranked side among the quartet of sides Ireland could have drawn in this play-off semi-final, with only Slovakia ranked beneath them.
How did they end up in the play-offs?
The Czechs were guaranteed a play-off thanks to an excellent Nations League campaign: they topped their group ahead of Ukraine, Georgia, and Albania.
They didn’t need their safety net, as the finished second in their qualifying group, behind Croatia.
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That’s not to say it was a smooth campaign. They finished six points behind Croatia and ahead of Faroe Islands, Montenegro and Gibraltar.
This was very much not the Group of Death, given all of Czechia, the Faroes, Montenegro, and Gibraltar were the third-lowest ranked side in each of their respective pots ahead of the qualifying draw.
While their best result of their campaign was a 0-0 draw at home to Croatia, they were hammered 5-1 in the reverse fixture.
Czechia needed a late Patrik Schick goal to beat the Faroes at home and they then shockingly lost 2-1 in the return game. Coach Ivan Hasek was sacked after the game. Nonetheless, the Faroes’ defeat to Croatia and a thumping, 6-0 win over Gibraltar on the final day was enough for the Czechia to seal second spot.
The win over Gibraltar was overshadowed by the fact the vast majority of the Czech players choosing to ignore fans after the game. The Czech FA appear wounded on the fans’ behalf: they subsequently issued a statement stripping Thomas Soucek of the captaincy for the next match while announcing players’ bonus payments would instead be going to charity.
“The fans have a full right to express their disagreement with the unsatisfactory performance in the recent games”, scolded the Czech FA. “The reaction of the players should have been quite the contrary. They should have thanked the active fans.”
Soucek meanwhile said the players felt the fans were not fully behind them, having learned of his losing the captaincy from a journalist during an autograph session.
“It’s a complicated situation”, he said. “We’re really happy that about a year and a half ago a group of people started cheering for us. We respect them, but today we didn’t feel united in our cheering. We didn’t feel like we all wanted to get to the World Cup together.”
Who is in charge now?
Thirty-five-year old Jaroslav Kostl was promoted to caretaker charge from the coaching staff following the sacking of Hasek. Kostl started out in football as a press officer in the Czech top flight, and then stepped into coaching with assistant roles at Slovan Liberec and Slavia Prague.
There is significant doubt as to whether Kostl will be in charge for the Ireland game. Pavel Nedved is in the Marc Canham role for the Czechs, and is leading the search for the next manager. Kostl himself says he doesn’t think he will be in charge come March, saying the FA prefer to appoint a foreign coach.
Pavel Nedved with Zdenek Grygera of the Czech FA. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Kostl delivered this news amid an emotional post-game press conference against Gibraltar, saying it was wrong to blame the national team head coach for all of the sport’s problems in Czechia, instead pointing to the supposed low levels of PE and physical exercise among kids across the country.
Media reports in Prague suggest Nedved has suggested veteran former Turkiye coach Fatih Terim along with Jurgen Klinsmann, but the decision makers around the table at the Czech FA were not all minded to agree. Nedved has admitted the FA have not reached consensus on who the next boss should be.
Former Czech international Vladimir Smicer has called for Nedved to appoint the present Slavia boss, Jindřich Trpišovský.
So amid all of this upheaval, to Mr. Kostl we say: hang tight for March, for have you heard of the phrase, Existing Contractual Obligations?
Who are their main players?
Thomas Soucek is on the naughty step but is among their most notable players and, as you’ll know from watching West Ham, will provide a major threat on set pieces. Former West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal is still involved, too.
Ladislav Krejčí, currently at Wolves, is tipped to take on the armband during Soucek’s grounding.
Their main goalscorer is Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick, who has hit 50 caps and has averaged almost a goal every other game. Having scored twice in the opening game over the Faroes, though, Schik managed just another two goals across the whole of the campaign.
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A hefty chunk of the Czech squad play at home, primarily with Viktoria Plzen and Slavia, though this is at least partly a reflection of domestic strength: the Czech league is currently 10th in Uefa’s ranking.
Ireland must be emboldened by all of this?
If they are, Heimir Hallgrimsson isn’t saying so.
The Irish boss said all the usual things in the aftermath of the draw, of how the big prize was landing a home final but that Ireland could not look beyond Czechia, saying they would be tricky.
When we asked whether he could draw optimism from the fact they lost to the Faroes and sacked their manager, Hallgrimsson replied, “Well, we lost to Armenia and almost fired the coach.”
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Czechia lowdown: Faroes humiliation, head coach mystery, and fans in revolt
IRELAND CAN NOW see the shape of their dreams.
If they are to qualify for next summer’s World Cup, Ireland must win away to Czechia (née Czech Republic) on 26 March and must then beat either Denmark or North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium on 31 March.
But in order to set up a winner-takes-all game in Dublin (rather than a miserable, contractually obliged friendly against the loser of the Denmark/North Macedonia tie) Ireland must assign their emphasis to the Czechs.
So, are the Czechs any good?
Fifa will tell you they are better than us. Czechia are ranked 44th in the Fifa rankings, above Ireland in 59th place. Czechia were the third highest-ranked side among the quartet of sides Ireland could have drawn in this play-off semi-final, with only Slovakia ranked beneath them.
How did they end up in the play-offs?
The Czechs were guaranteed a play-off thanks to an excellent Nations League campaign: they topped their group ahead of Ukraine, Georgia, and Albania.
They didn’t need their safety net, as the finished second in their qualifying group, behind Croatia.
That’s not to say it was a smooth campaign. They finished six points behind Croatia and ahead of Faroe Islands, Montenegro and Gibraltar.
This was very much not the Group of Death, given all of Czechia, the Faroes, Montenegro, and Gibraltar were the third-lowest ranked side in each of their respective pots ahead of the qualifying draw.
While their best result of their campaign was a 0-0 draw at home to Croatia, they were hammered 5-1 in the reverse fixture.
Czechia needed a late Patrik Schick goal to beat the Faroes at home and they then shockingly lost 2-1 in the return game. Coach Ivan Hasek was sacked after the game. Nonetheless, the Faroes’ defeat to Croatia and a thumping, 6-0 win over Gibraltar on the final day was enough for the Czechia to seal second spot.
The win over Gibraltar was overshadowed by the fact the vast majority of the Czech players choosing to ignore fans after the game. The Czech FA appear wounded on the fans’ behalf: they subsequently issued a statement stripping Thomas Soucek of the captaincy for the next match while announcing players’ bonus payments would instead be going to charity.
“The fans have a full right to express their disagreement with the unsatisfactory performance in the recent games”, scolded the Czech FA. “The reaction of the players should have been quite the contrary. They should have thanked the active fans.”
Soucek meanwhile said the players felt the fans were not fully behind them, having learned of his losing the captaincy from a journalist during an autograph session.
“It’s a complicated situation”, he said. “We’re really happy that about a year and a half ago a group of people started cheering for us. We respect them, but today we didn’t feel united in our cheering. We didn’t feel like we all wanted to get to the World Cup together.”
Who is in charge now?
Thirty-five-year old Jaroslav Kostl was promoted to caretaker charge from the coaching staff following the sacking of Hasek. Kostl started out in football as a press officer in the Czech top flight, and then stepped into coaching with assistant roles at Slovan Liberec and Slavia Prague.
There is significant doubt as to whether Kostl will be in charge for the Ireland game. Pavel Nedved is in the Marc Canham role for the Czechs, and is leading the search for the next manager. Kostl himself says he doesn’t think he will be in charge come March, saying the FA prefer to appoint a foreign coach.
Kostl delivered this news amid an emotional post-game press conference against Gibraltar, saying it was wrong to blame the national team head coach for all of the sport’s problems in Czechia, instead pointing to the supposed low levels of PE and physical exercise among kids across the country.
Media reports in Prague suggest Nedved has suggested veteran former Turkiye coach Fatih Terim along with Jurgen Klinsmann, but the decision makers around the table at the Czech FA were not all minded to agree. Nedved has admitted the FA have not reached consensus on who the next boss should be.
Former Czech international Vladimir Smicer has called for Nedved to appoint the present Slavia boss, Jindřich Trpišovský.
So amid all of this upheaval, to Mr. Kostl we say: hang tight for March, for have you heard of the phrase, Existing Contractual Obligations?
Who are their main players?
Thomas Soucek is on the naughty step but is among their most notable players and, as you’ll know from watching West Ham, will provide a major threat on set pieces. Former West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal is still involved, too.
Ladislav Krejčí, currently at Wolves, is tipped to take on the armband during Soucek’s grounding.
Their main goalscorer is Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick, who has hit 50 caps and has averaged almost a goal every other game. Having scored twice in the opening game over the Faroes, though, Schik managed just another two goals across the whole of the campaign.
A hefty chunk of the Czech squad play at home, primarily with Viktoria Plzen and Slavia, though this is at least partly a reflection of domestic strength: the Czech league is currently 10th in Uefa’s ranking.
Ireland must be emboldened by all of this?
If they are, Heimir Hallgrimsson isn’t saying so.
The Irish boss said all the usual things in the aftermath of the draw, of how the big prize was landing a home final but that Ireland could not look beyond Czechia, saying they would be tricky.
When we asked whether he could draw optimism from the fact they lost to the Faroes and sacked their manager, Hallgrimsson replied, “Well, we lost to Armenia and almost fired the coach.”
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