Czechs Out to Bounce Back from Georgian Mauling

Czech Republic vs Ukraine

It may be the Nations League – hardly the scale of the World Cup or European Championships – but the Czech Republic have some pride to restore this Tuesday night.

As they prepare to entertain the Ukraine in Prague, there’s no doubt they need to bounce back from a weekend embarrassment.

In the scheme of things, losing to a Georgia side which impressed against the odds at Euro 2024 was not a major surprise.

After all, despite a spirited showing against Portugal, the Czechs had finished bottom of their group in Germany this summer, with their only point actually coming against the Georgians who qualified for the last 16.

But, a few months on, to be hammered 4-1 by the same nation which is ranked 70^th in the world was something few saw coming.

A response against Ukraine, who also missed out on reaching the knockout stages at the European Championships (despite finishing on four points), will be regarded as essential.

Talking Points

The good news for the Czech Republic is that they are coming up against opponents who will be as deflated as they are.

That’s because the Nations League highlights on Saturday didn’t just belong to Georgia, they also belonged to the minnows of Albania who came from a goal down to win 2-1 in the epet Arena (also in Prague as Ukraine are unable to play at home due to the ongoing war).

Earlier on Saturday, the Czechs had a few chances but didn’t take them and were 4-0 down at one point before Lukas Kalvach pulled a goal back 10 minutes from time.

Overall, they failed to conjure much attacking threat, despite having the majority of possession.

It was far from the ideal result for Ivan Hasek, who was appointed head coach in January, won each of his first four games in charge but then had the setback of Euro 2024.

Now tasked with reigniting the spark they had earlier in the year, there is much work to be done after they slipped 13 places down the FIFA rankings.

They were also relegated from League A of the 2022-23 Nations League after losing four of their six group matches, finishing behind Spain, Portugal and Switzerland.

Still, with the likes of Patrik Schick – 20 goals in 41 games for his country – and 73-cap skipper Tomas Soucek in their ranks, they should have too much for the Ukraine.

The eastern Europeans were actually regarded by many as potential dark horses heading into Euro 2024, but they were eliminated at the group stage in unfortunate circumstances, exiting at the first hurdle for the third time in four appearances at the European Championship.

The Blue and Yellow picked up four points from three group matches, as did their opponents Romania, Belgium and Slovakia, but they finished rock bottom and failed to advance to the knockout rounds due to their inferior goal difference.

Yukhym Konoplia scored Ukraine's only goal in their Nations League game vs Albania — Ukraine’s defender Yukhym Konoplia celebrates after scoring a goal in their Nations League match vs Albania

Manager Sergei Rebrov, who has only lost four of his 17 matches in charge of Ukraine since his appointment in June last year, has kept the bulk of his senior squad together.

Yet Saturday’s setback against Albania suggested he may struggle to turn their fortunes around.

Disadvantaged by a lack of home advantage, and the worry of the ravages of war, a reality which puts everything into perspective, we will find out more on Tuesday night.

History

This will be just the sixth meeting between these nations in their current guises.

That is no surprise given the Czech team was Czechoslovakia until 1993 and the USSR was in place until the early 1990s when it broke up into several independent nations.

The first meeting was in 2011 when the Czechs proved far too strong in Prague, running out 4-0 winners with Michal Kadlec (two, one penalty), Jan Rezek and Daniel Kolar on target.

That friendly was followed by another 11 months later, a goalless draw in Lviv.

Two Nations League clashes followed in successive months in the autumn of 2018.

After Schick had given the hosts an early lead, goals at the end of each half from Yevhen Konoplyanka and Olexsandr Zinchenko earned Ukraine their first ever victory in their first competitive meeting against the Czech Republic.

When Ruslan Malinovskyi netted the only goal a few weeks later, Ukraine had a Nations League double.

They last met in another friendly, three years ago, in Plzen when it took a last minute Matěj Vydra equaliser to cancel out Viktor Korniyenko’s opener in a 1-1 draw.