 | « Back to article | Print this article |
There was a simple reason why Italy beat Czech Republic 2-0 on Thursday to advance to the second round of the World Cup: the Azzurri had several strikers at their disposal.
The Czech options up front were severely hampered by Jan Koller's hamstring injury and Vratislav Lokvenc's suspension.
| |||||||||||
But when he came off after 64 minutes to be replaced by midfielder David Jarolim on his own Hamburg SV pitch, the Czechs were heading out of the tournament without a recognised striker in their team.
With news of Ghana's 2-1 lead over the United States filtering through to the crowd and Italy 1-0 up on the Czechs, Karel Brueckner's side were in need of something special to survive.
Substitute Filippo Inzaghi scored three minutes from the end, doubling the lead established by substitute Marco Materazzi in the 26th minute.
NEED LUCK
You need luck as well as a strike force to advance in the World Cup and the Czechs went out having neither, though having midfielder Jan Polak dismissed for two rash cautions in the space of 10 minutes before halftime did not help.
Brueckner, 66, said it was too early to say what would happen next but the defeat is likely to mark his retirement.
Veteran midfielder Karel Poborsky, who turns 35 next year, also looks like bowing out while captain Pavel Nedved, who is 34 in August, said he would be considering his options.
Nedved ran the midfield, marshalled the defence and also got forward to force Juventus team mate, Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, into four outstanding saves.
Poignantly, Nedved was the last man to leave the field.
Having played in Italy for 10 seasons, he knew all the opposition players and went round hugging and shaking hands with them.
He exchanged shirts with Italy skipper Fabio Cannavaro, his Juventus club mate, and walked for 20 metres with his arm around Buffon.
The match was never a classic but as an occasion it was emotional.
