PBP: Czech Republic vs Poland: June 16 - Municipal Stadium Wroclaw [R]

It's called matchups.

Head to head Russia was stronger, and if they were equal on points should and would go ahead. But on balance, the Czechs got more done against other opponents. It's that simple. That's the whole reason you have group play.

But regarding your specific point, yes the Czechs were impotent against Russia's defense, but that spoke only to how out of synch the Czechs were in attack. Again and again they would miscue on attack. But that's the only reason they didn't carve up Russia more.

I noted that during the game, though I admit I was star struck by their attack, I figured it would balance out their deficits through the group:

It didn't even take Spain or Germany to expose the holes in Russia's defense. Just a savvy veteran player (35?) pouncing on their inattention.

 

And they were one kick away from scoring. Czech had countless chances to get more goals. Sivok's header would have gone in if he placed it a few inches to either side. Baros would have scored if he held his run by half a second. Pilar would have scored if it wasn't raining cause the ball skidded instead of bounced. Saying Czech were one save from being knocked out is dumb because they were also one kick away from scoring as well.

 

Russia couldn't beat Greece or Poland, Czech did. Czech started 4 attacking mids against Russia which was stupid and Bilek pushed Kadlec back to CB. They got it right in the 2nd game. The group shows Czech in 1st so that means they are better... That's like saying Man City wasn't the best team in the EPL. Just because a team has better players doesn't make them better. Czech and Greece have more cohesion and are better organized. Russia wasn't.

 

Greece beating Russia was by far the shock of the tournament. It was like 2004 all over again.

Russia not even qualifying is the second biggest shock of the tournament.

 

Russia was fun to watch. But Greece knows how to play a tournament, even if each individual game is mediocre. What matters is moving on. Keep an eye on the Greeks.

 

You can't determine how good a team is from 3 games. My judgement of these teams is based on years of results. Man city had 38 games to come out on top. HUGE difference.

 

First of all, the Russian core of players in defense and in many game situations has been to have terrible breakdowns in concentration. Their back line is known for that at club level, and it happened at crucial points at intentional level v. Greece and Slovenia. Zenit also collapsed at crucial points from lack of concentration.

Secondly, Russia has continually struggled against teams they cannot counter against. The national side features 2/3 of its attack from Zenit and 3 Zenit center MF’s, and Zenit’s core excels on the counter. Czech gave them space to do this. But Zenit failed to score against APOEL at home, and often struggled to breakdown RPL minnows like Terek and Amkar at home in the domestic league when not given space to counter.

Same can be said for RNT, even in qualifying. Russia failed to necessarily break down Slovenia in the 2010 World Cup qualifying play-off and missed the competition altogether. Russia also played out 0-0 draws with Ireland and Armenia in Euro qualifying. Russia was under pressure to be on the front foot and score against these sides, and has been known to struggle against this type of tactic, playing some ugly games. It could be that Russia is just as dangerous (if not more so), against a stronger team vulnerable to a counter than a weaker one with men behind the ball.

So considering these problems, is Russia that good?

 

Hehe, Polish fans were dented after the game. So were the Czechs but they were probably tired because of celebrating at the stadium after the game

 

Deserved win by the Czechs due to the fact that they had been the better team for ca. 1 hour. Poland started very well, but got worse from minute to minute (bad stamina???). Surely not the Poland we saw against Russia ... but the one we saw against Greece. Pretty disappointing!

 

This Polish team is very limited technically. They did play at their best against Russia, but yesterday I think the Czechs were superior for longer than 1 hour. Much praise to the left winger Václav Pilař, he was fantastic offensively and defensively. Drove the Poles crazy.

 

My only slight regret about yesterday is that there was no way for both of us to advance, as Wroclaw has by all accounts been a great host for our team. I also have a soft spot for Poland because I spent a summer studying there (in Poznan though, not Wroclaw). It's a great country, and it was good, though not at all surprising, to hear about the friendly atmosphere surrounding the match.