Czechia boss says 'average' Ireland a typical island team

New Czechia manager Miroslav Koubek noted Ireland play with "enormous heart."

Czechis forward Adam Hlozek Pic: MICHAL CIZEK/AFP via Getty Images)

Czechia will be without injured striker Adam Hložek as they prepare to face an Ireland side which their new manager Miroslav Koubek has described as ‘average’.

In the week ticket allocations and prices were set for the World Cup playoff semi-final in Prague on March 26, Heimir Hallgrímsson’s Irish are receiving plenty of motivation to cause an upset.

Koubek, 74, was only appointed last month when he branded their opponents as a team that play "simple and straightforward football, and they are very aggressive and intense”. 

Unlike Ireland, who snaffled second spot in their group with a maximum nine-point haul in the second half of their campaign, Czechia go into the crunch clash in crisis.

Manager Ivan Hasek lost his job after the October 2-1 defeat to Faroe Islands was sacked as manager before November saw Tomás Soucek lose his captaincy.

Match fees for all the squad were withheld as punishment for failing to acknowledge their fans after a facile 6-0 win over Gibraltar, with West Ham United’s Soucek taking the brunt of the federation’s ire.

They were hoping Hložk of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, currently third in the Bundesliga, would recover from his calf injury to be available but that looks unlikely, according to the new manager.

His last of four international goals came in his sole appearance in the campaign, the 2-0 win over Montenegro last June.

So desperate are Czechia to reach a first World Cup since 2006 that sporting director Pavel Nedvěd is trying to convince 35-year-old Vladimír Darida to reverse his decision from almost five years ago to retire from international football.

The winner of the semi-final at the Fortuna Arena will meet the winner of Denmark’s clash with North Macedonia on March 31 for a place at the summer tournament in North America.

"If we want the best Czech footballers for the team, it is my duty to try to get them,” Nedvěd said about arranging a sitdown with Darida.

“Personally, I feel very busy,” Koubek told local reporters on Wednesday about his preparations.

“I'm putting all my effort into making sure we understand our opponents. We've also contacted most of the players who are eligible, and the rest are still to come.

“We feel the determination, motivation and desire of the national team to do it and get to the World Cup."

Koubek has yet to decide whether Soucek will be reinstated with the armband.

“You will always count on Tomáš - he plays in the Premier League and he is a personality,” he said in admiration for the powerhouse.

“Overall, we spoke with mature players who are aware of all the connections. The feedback was positive."

On Ireland, the veteran said: “They are a very combative and combative team, aggressive and with a quick transition to attack and an organised defence. They are a typical island football team.

“They play what the opponent allows them to. The main thing for us is cohesion and teamwork. In my opinion, they are average in terms of play, but they have an enormous heart."

The FAI received 6,000 applications for the allocation of 1,024 for the away section at the 19,370-capacity home of Slavia Prague.

Prices set by the Czechia FA on Wednesday are between 500 (€20) and 1650 (€67) Korunas.