Czech newspaper smash into Tomas Soucek as West Ham United star ‘failed’ in int’l win v Faroe Islands
West Ham United star Tomas Soucek started and played the full 90 minutes as the Czech Republic picked up a 1-0 win over the Faroe Islands on Sunday, 15 October.
The Hammers midfielder scored the only goal of the contest with less than 15 minutes to play as he tucked away a penalty to ensure his side wasn’t on the wrong end of a potential upset and boost their hopes of qualification for Euro 2024.
Having suffered a defeat to Albania on Thursday (12 October) the chances of qualification had looked bleak, but Sunday’s win sees Soucek’s side return to second in Group E. But despite scoring the only goal in the contest, Czech media weren’t impressed with the West Ham man’s display.
Soucek was given a 5/10 rating by the Czech newspaper iSport (16 October), with the headline listing the Irons man as one of many players who “failed” in the contest. Reacting to the rest of his performance, they wrote: “It is perhaps not even suitable for this type of fight, where one attacks and the other defends.
“It was obvious that he didn’t feel like it, he didn’t get to the end in the box. Until the penalty chance and the tenth goal in the national team came. How important it was will be seen in November.”
Harsh
By the sounds of it, the Czech side has a hard job in breaking down the visitor’s defence for much of the contest, with a total of 70 per cent possession amounting to 29 shots from the home team but they were reliant on Soucek’s spot kick to win them three points.
It is hard to give any player too much praise for scraping a 1-0 win over the Faroe Islands, but it does seem slightly harsh to slam the West Ham star’s display as he put himself about in the middle of the park, winning 12 duels in the game, the most of any player for either side [Fotmob].
Given the precarious position that the Czech Republic find themselves in, in terms of qualification, the 28-year-old’s winner could well be the difference between his side reaching the tournament in Germany next summer, or missing out completely.
More importantly for West Ham supporters, Soucek and Vladimir Coufal appear to have got through the October international break without picking up any sizeable injuries and hopefully, both will be fit and ready to face Aston Villa on Sunday (22 October).
In other West Ham news, one journalist isn’t convinced that the Hammers will offer Kurt Zouma a new contract amid interest from Saudi Arabia