CHISINAU (from our correspondent) – The captain was explaining how difficult it was to play into the opponent’s closed defense. “The pre-final stage was rough,” admitted the West Ham midfielder.
How sorry are you for the draw in Moldova?
We wanted to confirm a great performance and three points with Poland, but it didn’t work out. We played to the full, albeit on a difficult terrain, but we need to be a big team and handle such matches. Now we will play in the Faroe Islands and we have more matches to the full, we have to manage it.
Wasn’t this match, paradoxically, harder than against Poland, which you euphorically beat on Friday in Eden?
Probably yes. It is always difficult to play to the full when the opponent has so many players in the box. We couldn’t get into anything, we had a few chances. I had a great opportunity and I regret that I did not convert it. But with respect to the opponent, it is necessary to create far more chances against such a team and score a goal.
How many inches were you missing from scoring your shot? You hit the crossbar.
I think that Hložan was good for me. I expected to get it further forward, coming back to the ball with my left foot. I tried to shoot as low as I could but it was inches. It needs to be changed.
Why did you just say that you will transfer the energy and commitment from the match with Poland to Moldova as well?
We all wanted it that way. It’s not just words, we were all fired up from the first minute at practice. The atmosphere was great, but as I mentioned before, it is difficult to create something against such a clouded team. The first goal needs to be scored. Then it opens up and it’s much easier. In the last fifteen to twenty minutes, we played more in combination, we opened them up more, but the chances still didn’t come.
I think when we got to their goal we couldn’t prepare the pre-final pass. Whether it’s a proper cross, or pushing it into the goal, putting the ball under you. Or to hold the balloon. When they kicked the ball out, it took us a long time to get back there. The pre-final stage scrubbed.
The home side seemed to be stronger in the tackles, they had rebounds.
They had a lot of bounced balls, they went for breaks. I have to praise my opponent, he also wanted to win. He had quality players who allowed themselves to. We kept a clean sheet, so I have to praise the defense as well. Today, no opponent is easy. We have to take the point and prepare for the next match.
At what part of the match did you realize that trouble was coming?
Until the end of the match, we believed that we could handle it. We knew that even if we had scored in the 90th minute, it would have meant three points. I think that other opponents will also have a hard time collecting points here. The home side showed quality. We believed, everyone gave it their best I could see. Quality was lacking.
Aren’t you afraid that you dampened the euphoria of the fans after the match against Poland with this result?
We all know four points wouldn’t be bad before the clash. Now we are all disappointed, but we hope that the Czech fans will believe in us. We are first in the group, which is important. There are lessons to be learned from this match. We need to play with such teams and enter the match like in Olomouc with the Faroe Islands (the Czechs won 5:0 in a friendly match in the autumn).
Photo: Aurel Obreja, CTK/AP
Tomáš Souček’s frustration after an unconverted chance in the match against Moldova.Photo: Aurel Obreja, CTK/AP
Antonín Barák started next to you in midfield, Alex Král was there against Poland. Does it make a difference to you?
Each player has different abilities. I’ve played a few matches with both, each has something. Then someone else can start, that’s the national team. I like all the players here as footballers and in terms of character. Whoever comes in, we always try to win.
Is this draw a complication for the qualifying process?
We wanted to get as many points as possible. We are still first, we want to be the best and, above all, advance. That is our goal. We just made it a little more difficult for ourselves, we have two points less than we wanted after this game. But we still have a good starting position.
