West Ham United’s Tomas Soucek came within a whisker of marking his long-awaited World Cup debut with a goal during the Czech Republic’s dramatic 2-1 defeat by South Korea in Guadalajara’s Akron Stadium.
Though Petr Rada, a highly-experienced coach who briefly took charge of the national team from 2008 to 2008, would have little sympathy for a midfielder cursing his luck and the linesman’s flag.
With the score level at 1-1, Tomas Soucek bulleted a trademark header into the South Korean net.
Tell us what YOU make of our West Ham World Cup XI! 🌍
Can you think of someone who are missing? Let us know below 👇
That would prove to a classic sliding doors moment; West Ham United’s number 28 was narrowly offside as the free-kick was curled in, while a relieved South Korean outfit would go prancing down the other end to net the winner soon after.
West Ham United’s Tomas Soucek suffers debut World Cup defeat
Soucek broke Mads Hermansen’s heart to reach the World Cup; the Czech’s first sojourn onto the world stage since 2006. With the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes left at home, he is very much flying the flag for West Ham across the Atlantic.
Speaking to Sport Aktualne, the aforementioned Rada opted against sympathising with Soucek – denied by the narrowest of margins – and instead criticised his performance as part of a Czech midfield frequently overran by their Duracell-powered opponents.
“[Vladimir] Coufal and the goal scorer [Wolves’ Ladislav] Krejci played their part. Apart from the disallowed goal, more was certainly expected from Soucek,” said an underwhelmed Rada.
Soucek refused to blame the ‘conditions’ in his post-match interview.
Rada, though, says the evidence proves that such conditions – 27 degrees celsius and over 5,000 feet above sea level – suited the Koreans more than their Eastern European counterparts.
“[South Korea] were more active and, even though they were losing, they continued the same way and believed in their way of playing,” Rada argues.
“I admit that they are dynamic and mobile by nature. Still, I think that the two acclimatization camps in the mountains before the championship paid off for them.
“I disagree with Tomas Soucek’s claim that the difficult conditions did not affect us. Our players’ legs weren’t working that well. As soon as the ball went two meters away from them, they couldn’t run after it.”
Is it time to let Tomas Soucek go? 👋
David Moyes wants to bring him to Everton…
Soucek is ‘holding back the Czech national team’
This is not the first time that Soucek has sparked debate back home.
The Premier League’s highest Czech goalscorer was stripped of the captaincy following an alleged snub of the home fans during a World Cup qualifier in November.
In a piece written by Jan Lajbl of Medium in the build up to the tournament opener, meanwhile, he questioned if Soucek should even be starting games for the national team these days.
“In my opinion, Tomas Soucek has been holding back the Czech national team’s play for a long time,” Lajbl argues. “Most of his passes are directed backwards and sometimes I don’t even register that he is on the field.”
After that underwhelming opening performance in Mexico, Soucek has a long way to go before he receives an apology from his critics.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
