𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Don’t sleep on this Czech Republic side.

Yes, they might have come undone by the pace and quality of South Korea’s substitutes, but as my colleague Liliana Michelena put it earlier, they have size and they know what to do with it.

Their defence is the big issue but if they can grow into the tournament, remain steady on a low block and look as lethal as they did tonight on set pieces — a goal, a disallowed goal and a shot that required a full-extension save all in the second half — they can claim a win at this World Cup.

Remember, eight of the 12 third-place teams will also advance to the knockout stage of this tournament thanks to the new Round of 32.

The Czechs may have missed out tonight but they should be favourites to get a positive result against South Africa in their second group match, and are only one behind South Korea on goal difference.

The path out of Group A is still very much there for them.