Tough to argue against Czech success

I think the Czechs absolutely did not deserve to advance to the semi-finals. This is one of the worst teams in the U-20 tournament. Within playing time (regulation and Xtra time) the Czechs actually managed only 1 win so far - against the soccer's super power of Panama. They neither deserved their shoot-out wins against Spain nor Japan. Both latter teams played far better statistically. Against Japan they were unable to score one single field goal (except for penalties), against Spain they managed one single goal. Except for penalties, during all their previous 5 games the Czechs managed only a total of 5 goals against their opponents, but received 6 goals against in total. All other advancing team score far better. On the attacking front they are - no doubt - one of the worst teams of the tournament (few goals, shots on goal etcetera). On the defensive side they are not so hot either (5:6 record in field goals). But they are the champions on the penalty front and in defense tactics. The latter unfortunately is very dangerous for soccer - it virtually kills this beautiful game. We can only hope that the Czechs do not advance any further. Their (goal-less) game style does not promote soccer - particularly in Canada. We might re-think to avoid the return of the defensive soccer style - previously so common in Europe. In comparison to the Czechs, how beautiful was it to watch the game between Chile and Nigeria. They, including Mexico and Argentina would all deserve to advance, including Japan and Spain, but not the Czech Republic. Soccer results are of course not always fair, but this is tough to accept. We might again think of changing the soccer rules to improve the game, such as enlarging the box size or reducing the number of players from 11 to 10.

As a Czech living in the US, I have followed the success of the team closely and although I may be biased, I don't see the victory over Spain as being "dangerous for soccer". Sport is not just about skill and talent, it's also about hard work and tactics. The Czechs admitted prior to the game that they did not match up well with Spain offensively and it was clear that they would have to defend, play a patient game, and try to counter attack when given the opportunity. Admittedly, the game was not the most thrilling to watch, but I admired the effort the Czech players put into containing the Spanish attack. As the article states, the satisfaction of the semifinals far outweighs the "honor" of playing an attractive game and losing by three goals. Sports is ultimately about results, a winning side and a losing side, and the Czechs had a plan, and executed it perfectly. We are a small country and the success we've had in the sports arena have been mostly due to playing a tactical and defensive game, whether it be in soccer or hockey. The frustration of the Spanish side on Saturday was the result of that.

Being from Spain I was disappointed to see my team being defeated by the Czechs, as I thought Spain played better and the statistics seem to support that. Without getting into whether defensive play is as valid a tactic as being offensive (I do believe that there is room in soccer for both), what I would like changed is the way tied games are resolved. A penalty shootout is to me more similar to a lottery than to a sport. FIFA should adopt the rules of hockey and let the teams play until someone scores. The players are supposed to be athletes, so let's see who's better prepared for the game (physically and mentally), even if it takes 3 hours for the winner to end up scoring. This may also put some pressure on the players to try and score earlier, knowing that the penalties are no longer an option just 30 minutes after regulation time is over.

A brief comment regarding the shootout: Olympic and international hockey has used a shootout for quite some time and the NHL is now using it to settle regular-season games. Fair or not, I think many fans enjoy them. I do agree that losing a game in a shootout can seem very arbitrary, but playing a long overtime, especially in soccer, would put the winner of the contest in a big disadvantage for the next game. I think that fatigue even played a role in the game on Saturday, as both Spain and the Czech Republic looked tired after their previous games.

Yes, I agree that the game was not the most exciting BUT what a David and Goliath battle. The Czechs have been brilliant in penalty kicks (full power and ON goal)! This is not luck but rather skill on their part. Obviously they have chosen to concentrate on this part of their game and it is paying off big time for them! Also, the Czechs have great team spirit and team play and they look like they are having a lot of fun playing the game (nothing to lose...everything to gain). So what's not good for soccer? The "beautiful game" is not only about individual skill and team play but also the human spirit...and maybe just a little luck!

Soccer for life!

I think the organizers of this event did not achieve the fullest potential for the games when they decided to schedule three of the last four games in Toronto. I saw the Chile-Nigeria game on Saturday and to my delight, watched an exciting game in the charged atmosphere of 46,000 screeming fans in Olympic Stadium. A game of that calibre should be set before a hungry crowd in the biggest venue possible. I think the final game should have been held in Montreal where you would have easily seen a crowd twice the size of that to be found in Toronto.
Boooo to the organizers, they missed a golden opportunity to showcase Canada's ability to put on the best possible show in front of the football world.

To Mr. Bertramo (from Nanaimo,B.C.) comment about Czech team. He also forgot to mentioned Czech team has not lost a game in the tournament. As for the penalty shoot-out , every team has the same chance. Maybe he kind a miss the fact the Czech goalkeeper stop 4 penalty kicks - doesn't it indicate either quality goalkeeping or poor kicking from other team. It is an old soocer truth - only kicker can blow up penalty kick.
By the way - they say what comes around, goes around - remember EURO 2004, Mr. Bertramo ? In case you've forget I would like to remind you a semifinal match between Greece and Czech Republic.

I still stand by my last comments about the Czech team. Their style of play is destructive and a disservice to soccer. It is negative soccer, coma and sleep inducing. That is not how to play soccer. It is one thing to defend some of the time and counter attack now and then, but it is another thing to deliberately play for penalty shootout.

My suggestion to FIFA is that to find a way to settle tie soccer games they probably need to adopt the kind of scoring system that is used in boxing: where if there is no knockout the boxer with the highest points wins. FIFA can adopt such method in such a way that if a soccer game is tied after regular time plus extra time the team with the highest statistics (e.g. shots wide, shots on goal, corner kicks, etc) wins the game. If such a scoring method is adopted we would then see how teams like Czech that play 100% defensive soccer would win games.

Simple logic: the Czechs deserve to be there, otherwise they would have lost all of their games. There is no need to cry because the Spanish underperformed again and couldn't score -- they always do! GO CZECHS!

as a Czech born soccer coach, goalkeeper and super fan I will say just one thing. The Czechs absolutley deserve to be where they are, why? b
Because they won not just 1 but 2 games on penalties. Taking a good penalty is a great skill, and the Czechs are taking unstoppable shots, really kind of a new style of hard placement. Also Petr has stopped some that he had to because they were so poorly taken. You can talk defensive tactics all you want, but hey they also play on the counter, so take that into account, because this is a big part of modern soccer. They may just win the final....on penalties

i have enjoyed the u20 tournament emensely iwatched games with spanish commentary when it was not available in english during the fall&winter i watch games in the italian language&games from france the language barrier is no problem to the beautiful game just watch.my only complaint is to do with the venues it appeared that the games in edmonton were poorly attended the lowest in canada i would like to see the records for attendance at all the games in canada it appears montreal is the winner handsdownbecause of the olympic stadium well done mtl,now toronto for semis&final games if these games were played at skydome the crowds would probably draw attendancesin the 70,000to 80,000 region.i attended a soccer game at the skydome on july31/2004 celtic fc played as.roma it attracted over 80,000 fans this would cover the cost of laying grass,it was reported that game attracted the largest crowd to a sporting event in canada.toronto fc have&still are a breath of fresh air to nowwe need teams in montreal&vancouver&build from there the future looks bright&im loving it yours john mac donald

The Central American Head Referee in the Japan/Czech game is responsible for the advancement of Czechs; nothing that the Czechs did during regulation time (1 shot on goal from the end line) qualified them for the victory. The Czechs started 'diving' in the 18 and instead of being carded for the theatrical falls, rolling and crying they were incredulously rewarded with penalty kicks. The Czechs should award this referee honorary citizenship for his immeasurable contribution.

You know to all you North Americans who go on about changing the rules of real football, forget it. It is THE world game, if you don't want to play with others that's fine, though it might improve your dwinding reputations if you actually played with the rest of the humanity.

Bunch of Spanish cry-babies. Every time a small, but extremely talented / motivated team and/or individual players from the Czech Republic shows-up their opponents, whether it be hockey (heard the same complaints during Nagano), tennis (how many complained about Ivan Lendl being just a base-liner, but he still kicked-ass for 200+ consecutive weeks at being No.1 in the world) or, in this case, soccer, everyone complains about their style of play. Well boo-hoo you cry-babies. For a country of some 10 million people, located in the centre of Europe, their achievements are nothing short of remarkable.

So, stop your crying / sore-losing and give credit where credit's due. If the Spainards won we wouldn't be hearing this crap. They'd "deserve" to win. Nobody deserves anything unless they win (albeit within the confines of the rules). The Czechs won, so they deserve the accolades.

Bob, did You watch the semifinal game? Czechs showed a lot of skils and they just had game under control. Like with Spain they played "what they need". You can't play open game against some teams, it will kill you. Exactly what Czechs did... What Canada did on U-20? Zero points, zero goals. Thats soccer's rule problem? No. NHL Stanley Cup won best defending team in the league, is somebody complaining?

Just a comment for those that saying that Czech team does not deserve to be in the final, I think that you have no idea about football what-so-ever... Just look at Italian WC wins in 1982 Spain and 06 Germany, this Czech team is playing the tournament to win, not to impress, just like the Italian teams did 1/4 century appart.
In football you have 90 min to win (and that goes for both sides) plus 2x15 min (again for both sides) and then you go to PK. You can say if Spain and Japan did not win with in RT+ET than they deserved to loose in PK, and I think that you can not argue that Czech team was superb in PK (that was a beauty to watch for both games). You beat them any way you can. Remember a team can only play as good or bad the opposing team will force or allow it to, and again that goes both ways. Remember we are not living in 1970s anymore, now days if you qualify for a tournament like this one; you have to be at a certain level. Recently it has been proven more and more that you need to play as a perfect tournament team, not to try to impress, if you want to win it all. I would like to end with couple of famous quotes of Kazimierz Gorski (once very famous and successful POL National team coach from the 60s & 70s, may he rest in peace) who often used to say: "The ball is round and there are two goals", "Every game you can win, lose, or draw", "The football is simple game, Just one should score more goals than opponents" and lastly "If the money ruled football , the UAE would win a World Cup"... Ladies and Gentleman anything is possible in football, don't over analyze, and just enjoy the game...
Go neighbors Go!!! :)
Cheers,
Marcin

Penalty kicks are no more arbitrary than "golden Goal" overtime, which, in hockey, more often results in a win off of a bad bounce or a stumble by a player exhausted by three full periods of clutching, grabbing and hooking.

The defensive style of the Czech game may not be as thrilling, especially to the casual fan, but those who understand the game should be able to appreciate all of the skills involved; from flashy strikes to well organized team defence to the skill of well taken (or well saved) PK's.

Anyway, I prefer honest, if dull, defense to the flamboyant "diving competition" put on by the Argentines in the semi. They play so beautifully, and then fall down and roll around like fish out of water at the slightest touch trying to draw undeserved fouls. That sort of behaviour is the thing that can kill the game.

People who argue that the Czech football team do not deserve to be in the finals are completely misguided. They do not understand the sport of football. Some fans have also gone so far as to say that the Czech's are one of the worst teams in the tournament. The fact is, is that the Czech's have been superb. Football is not always about going forward, it is also about staying back and defending. The Czech's have managed to shutout both Argentina and Spain, two of the pre-tournament favourites. The fact that they managed to shutout Argentina is extremely impressive, especially considering the fact that it did not take Argentina long at all to score on Chile, who had not allowed a goal in the entire tournament. The Czech's have also shown the ability to play attacking football, as shown through their wonderful late comeback against Japan and also in their early goals against Austria, including a wonderfully worked goal, featuring several one touch passes, finished off by Fenin. The fact is that the Czech's are a great football team. They deserve to be in the finals and also have an excellent shot at winning.

Bertano - which team of yours did the Chechs knock out?
They are playing good clean soccer which is way more than can be said for argentina.