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 Koller; big enough, | Oh no!! Bye-bye Patrik before you even start!! Well, I guess it was almost inevitable (but not quite) that the Czechs might be the team to succumb in this group. I am gutted by the fact; sincerely wish that they could've managed to shove aside one of the favourites. They tried, I suppose.
Throughout the first half of this game, the Czechs played as they had in their 2nd half against the Dutch. Loverly stuff!! However the first French goal came after a dreadful backpass fluff from Gabriel - (who had a torrid half, having to deal with that little brain lapse, a booking and concussion!) Henry couldn't miss - the guillotine would have been rolled on, had he! But, glory, glory - the Czechs got a penalty! It wasn't a penalty - Nedved had been fouled outside of the box - but Mr Poll consulted with his linesman (the conversation probably went "Inside" "No outside" "D'oh" "Give it them anyway" "Yup they deserve a bit of luck") Pob made no mistake. Such hope during the half-time run around; make food; eat; use toilet - alas, it all disintegrated fairly quickly though. Dreadful substitutions to the Czech ranks (Fukal?!?) changed their play completely and they were really very, very awful in the 2nd half. Who is this fella called Lokvenc?? I mean, he might be a nice fellow (intelligent even) but . . . give him a bolt and "eat your heart out, Boris Karloff"!!! He had no movement either; none perceptible, that's for sure! If the Czechs thought they could win this game by playing two giants up front, they were very much mistaken. Oh to have been able to have played Berger!! (I saw the incident for which Patrik was sent off in the Faroe game; nasty little stamp you gave there, Pata - tut). Djorkaeff scored on the hour to put them out of there misery. I still think that the Czechs are a better side than either the French or the Dutch - but dreadful luck; poor tactics and an inadequate depth of squad eventually saw their demise. What point is there in the 3rd round game?? There's nothing at stake; except pride I suppose. The French roll on, untroubled. |
Teams and things
FRANCE (4-4-2): 1 F Barthez (Manchester United) - 15 L Thuram ( Parma), 5 L Blanc (Internazionale), 8 M Desailly (Chelsea), 2 V Candela (Roma) - 7 D Deschamps (Chelsea), 4 P Vieira (Arsenal), 17 E Petit (Arsenal, sub 6 Y Djorkaeff, Kaiserslautern, 45), 10 Z Zidane (Juventus) - 12 T Henry (Arsenal), 9, N Anelka (Real Madrid, sub: 21 C Dugarry, Bordeaux, 55). Substitutes not used: 1 B Lama (Paris St Germain), 22 U Rame (Bordeaux), 3 B Lizarazu (Bayern Munich), 11 R Pires (Marseilles), 13 S Wiltord (Bordeaux), 14 J Micoud (Bordeaux), 18 F Leboeuf (Chelsea), 19 C Karembeu (Real Madrid), 20 D Trezeguet (AS Monaco).
CZECH REPUBLIC (3-3-2-2): 1 P Srnicek (Sheffield Wednesday) - 2 T Repka (Fiorentina), 19 K Rada (Slavia Prague), 21 P Gabriel (Sparta Prague, sub: 5 M Fukal, Sparta Prague, 45) - 8 K Poborsky (Benfica), 13 R Bejbl (Atlético Madrid, sub: 12 V Lokvenc, Sparta Prague, 48), 7 J Nemec (Benfica) - 4 P Nedved (Lazio) 11 T Rosicky (Sparta Prague, sub: 15 M Jankulovski, Banik Ostrava, 62) - 17 V Smicer (Liverpool), 10 J Koller (Anderlecht). Substitutes not used: 16 L Maier (Rapid Vienna), 22 J Blazek (Sparta Prague) 6 P Vlcek (Sparta Prague), 9 P Kuka (VfB Stuttgart), 14 P Horvath (Slavia Prague), 18 J Novotny (Sparta Prague). Booked: Repka, Nemec, Thuram, Gabriel.
Referee: G Poll (England).
