Spain Czech out of Championships
Spain u17 0-2 Czech Republic
u17
May 11 2006
By Andrew Haigh, Stade Deich, Ettelbruck.
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Roberto Garcia was dismissed as favourites Spain
were sent crashing out of the tournament thanks to goals from Tomas Pekhart and Jan Vosahlik.
Pekhart gave the Czechs the lead with a fantastic 25-yard volley before Garcia was shown the red card on the stroke
of half time.
Vosahlik wrapped up the match with a second half lob to inflict the tournament's first upset.
The Czech's will now meet Russia in the final after they caused the second upset of the day by beating Germany.
In a climate more comparable with the Costa del Sol than northern Luxembourg, it was unexpectedly the Czechs who
acclimatised to the match to the quickest.
In the first two minutes Czech striker Tomas Pekhart caused the Spanish defence problems and when he was hacked
down 25 yards from goal, Lukas Vacha had the chance to curl a free kick. But his effort was blocked by team mate
Jan Vosahlik on its way goalwards.
But after the chance, the Czechs were pegged back as Spain began to get the better of the midfield battle.
However, they could not make their dominance pay and during the first quarter wasted a number of set pieces when
in the final third.
Not even Bojan Krkic, included in the starting line-up for the first time in the tournament after becoming the
top-scorer, could make a difference in attack.
The Czech's defence was resolute and managed to cope with anything the Spanish had to offer,
Spain however struggled at the back and a defensive error on 23 minutes let Jan Vosahlik for the best chance of
the match so far, but his weak effort was straight at keeper Sergio Asenjo.
15-year-old Krkic began to announce himself in the match on 25 minutes with a well timed run. After taking the
ball down well, he beat half a dozen players as he jinked through the Czech defence.
But with a lack of quality support he was forced to carry on alone, only for Ondrej Mazuch to eventually stub out
the danger with a well-timed challenge on the edge of the six-yard box.
The game remained even until Pekhart's incredible volley which although it took everyone by surprise, was more
than the giant frontman deserved.
Pekhart found space in the centre of the Spanish half and came to collect a Jakub Heidenreich throw in.
After taking the ball on his chest he struck an unbelievable first time effort over Asenjo, a mere spectator, into
centre of goal.
Things went from bad to worse for the Spanish as right back Roberto Garcia was dismissed on the stroke of half
time for his second bookable offence.
The Athletico Madrid stopper deservedly walked after two over-the-top challenges on talented left midfielder Martin
Zeman within the space of ten minutes.
There was still time for the Czechs to pick two more bookings and with indiscipline setting in both sides, referee
Aleksandr Stavrev blew for half time to a chorus of boos from Spanish fans.
They continued berating the officials as they left the field but Stavrev's decision to dismiss Garcia was the correct
one, the defender having lost his cool way before he was shown the red card.
Czech coach Jakub Dovalil would have been well aware of Spain's impressive goalscoring record, and despite taking
the lead will not have been complacent in his half time assessment of the match.
His opposite number, Juan Sanisteban, obviously worried by the scoreline and the numerical disadvantage, made two
changes at the break, bringing on Manuel Castellano and Jose Baena for Marcos Gullon and Cristian Vergara.
Spain, now playing a flexible 4-2-3 formation, with Ruben Ramos, Aaron Niguez and Krkic up front, continued to
create chances but their execution was poor.
Meanwhile, the Czechs were also busy in front of goal with Zeman, whose trickery lead to another booking, this
time for replacement right-back Castellano, being the creator on the left.
Zeman then found space on the edge of the Spanish area on 55 minutes and struck a curling shot narrowly over the
bar.
Lukas Vacha, impressive in the centre of midfield, broke from the Czech's defence three minutes later and when
he could have gone down under three Spanish challenges he remained upright and sent a wonderful through ball over
the top.
Jan Vasahlik made a perfectly timed run to collect the ball and went one-on-one with the Asenjo. His calm lob gave
the Czechs a two-goal advantage, which was well-deserved.
After the goal, Spain's tactic seemed mostly to be about giving the ball to Krkic and asking him to produce something
incredible but despite moments of brilliance, he could not deliver.
With ten minutes remaining, Santisteban played his final card and brought on Jose Hermosa for the surprisingly
uninspiring Niguez.
However, his impact was minimal and despite a great chance to pull one back, when Cesar Ortiz headed wide from
six yards, Spain could not produce the goalscoring form of the group stages.
In fact, the final minutes saw two efforts from the Czechs go narrowly over, and they should extended their winning
margin.
Attendance: 1335
Teams:
Spain: Sergio Asenjo, Ramon Soria, Roberto Garcia, Ignacio Camacho, Marcos Gullon (Manuel Castellano, 40), Aaron
Niguez (Jose M. Hermosa, 70), Cristian Vergara (Jose Baena, 40), Cesar Ortiz, Ruben Ramos, Guillem Savall, Bojan
Krkic.
Subs: Jesus Coca, Pedro Alcala, Cesar Azpilcueta, .
Czech Republic: Marek Stech, Ondrej Mazuch, Jan Polak, Martin Zeman (Martin Holek, 80), Jan Hable, Lukas Vacha,
Jan Vosalik, Tomas Pekhart, Radim Reznik, Jakub Heidenriech, Petr Wojnar,
Subs: Ondrej Volsik, Mirolsav Stepanek, Petr Reinberk, Jakub Susser. |
