4 Takeaways From South Africa’s Last-Minute Draw vs. Czechia At The World Cup

With South Africa and Czechia looking to pick up the pieces from opening day losses, the teams played to a 1-1 draw in Atlanta as part of Group A action. Both teams are surely disappointed with both the result and the performances.

For Czechia, the second half was frustrating as the team shifted to a defensive mindset to cling to a 1-0 lead. That approach backfired, and the team collapsed late and was unable to create meaningful chances to put the game away. For South Africa, the team struggled out of the gate and defended poorly on Czechia’s opening goal.

Here are my four takeaways from the match:

Czech’s Initial Offensive Approach

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After its 2-1 loss to South Korea in its opening game, Czechia head coach Miroslav Koubek adopted a more offensive starting lineup against South Africa. The hope was that it would lead to the creation of more chances from the run of play, instead of overlying on set pieces.

Czechia opened the game on the front foot with a 3-5-2 formation that was aggressive.

Koubek’s approach paid off heavily as Czechia scored one of the earliest goals of the tournament, so far. The play began when forward Adam Hložek chased down a throw-in on the right wing. The Hoffenheim attacker then sent a ball to the edge of the 18-yard box straight out from goal. Hlozek’s ball found Michal Sadilek, who then combined with Alexandr Sojka before taking a return pass and firing a shot past Ronwen Williams.

Sadilek and Sojka did not start the game but were two of the five changes Koubek made in the game to create chances from the run of play. Tactically, it was a departure from the opening game as Czechia seemingly had far more players in the attack than at any point it did during the loss to South Korea.

The tactical shift also got more players involved in the game. One of the problems Czechia had in the loss to South Korea was inability to get Patrik Schick involved in the game. The Bayer Leverkusen forward is not only the team’s most important goal-scoring option, but he is also effective in the attack through his hold-up play.

Against South Korea, Schick had just 11 touches over 63 minutes. In the opening minutes against South Africa, Schick already surpassed his involvement in the opening game.

Koubek’s Failed Gamble

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After Czechia took the lead, the team’s approach dramatically changed. Koubek’s team became more defensive and compact. The fullbacks began sitting deeper with Sojka and Vladimír Coufal aiding the backline more than boosting the attack. Then in the 55th minute, central defender Jaroslav Zeleny came into the game for Sojka as part of a tactical shift that boosted the backline.

The conservative shift was geared more towards keeping South Africa at bay as opposed to finding more goals to put the game out of reach.

Throughout the second half, Czechia conceded most of the possession and was guarded in its counterattacks to not get pulled out of a defensive shape. Koubek assessment was that his team’s defense could hold and that South Africa would not be able to crack through an organized defensive shape.

Ultimately, the defensive shift backfired massively. In the 82nd minute, South Africa winger Thapelo Maseko hit a powerful shot that hit the arm of Pavel Sulc just inside the box. It was a close call but referee Mary Victoria Penso (who was leading the tournament’s first all-American, all-female crew) pointed to the spot.

Teboho Mokoena then converted for a surprising equalizer. But after South Africa equalized, Czechia did not have nearly as many attackers as it needed to try to reclaim the lead. On top of that, Czechia’s biggest weapon is its set pieces and the team was unable to create anything dangerous from its set pieces.

South Africa Grew Into The Game

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South Africa’s history at the World Cup is poor. This is the team’s fourth World Cup and the first three have ended with a group stage exit. This draw was a small step in the right direction. Advancing is still unlikely as it would require a win over South Korea in the finale, but it no longer likely needs much help in other results. A win would surely suffice.

South Africa improved throughout the game and began to push forward in the final 20 minutes of the game. Its possessions became more and more effective and several times it was able to get touches inside the Czechia box.

Mokoena had a very good game even beyond just converting his penalty. By the end of the game, he was driving the attack. He finished the game with 120 touches and was extremely effective with his passing, both with short passes forward and long-range passes that switched the point of attack.

In the end, however, South Africa was not able to find a winner and still has not scored from the run of play in this tournament. It finished with 508 completed passes compared with 271 completed passes for Czechia. That edge led to 17 shots, and five on target.

South Africa had the support of the crowd and played well at the end. But it waited too long to get going, and it was not enough.

The Path Forward

Both Czechia and South Africa now have a single point at this World Cup through two games. Next up, Czechia has to take on hosts Mexico and South Africa meets South Korea.

Both Czechia and South Africa must win their group stage finales, in what would both be upset wins. After this game, neither team has much momentum heading into must-win contests against strong teams.

South Africa must play the way it did in the second half. Czechia must rediscover its set piece strength while also looking to press forward from the onset and not let up.