WHZ View: West Ham duo Soucek and Coufal shine for Czechs v Belgium
West Ham duo Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal both shone in the Czech Republic’s 1-1 draw with Belgium last night.
After a goalless first half, the hosts took the lead in Prague through Lukas Provod on 50 minutes. The Red Devils responded 10 minutes later thanks to a goal from Romelu Lukaku, his 59th goals in 91 caps for Belgium.
It was a very close encounter between two sides bang in form. Soucek and Coufal were unfortunate not to be involved in the goals with two big chances spurred either side of half time.
The pair put in excellent performances against the number one ranked country in world football. Soucek was captaining his country for the first time after scoring a hattrick in their last game against Estonia.
A solid showing
This international break is turning into an excellent one for our Czech stars. Soucek so nearly made it four goals in two games – his last-minute headed effort was cleared off the line by Toby Alderweireld.
The big man was a handful for his opponents as usual. He completed 100% long passes and 100% of his dribbles successfully [WyScout]. Up against Kevin De Bruyne and Yuri Tielemans in the middle, he won 62% of his duels.
Soucek won possession 12 times, seven coming in the Belgium half, too. He also made 11 interceptions, which is double what he’s been averaging per 90 minutes all season. He’s playing with so much confidence and energy at the moment, no wonder he captained the side.
Coufal put in an excellent display against Belgium’s array of attacking talent. He had his hands full with Napoli speedster Dries Mertins but nullified his contribution overall. The attacker was taken off after 56 minutes – another victim for his impressive list.
The right-back turned creator 15 minutes in. He played an excellent through-ball from the halfway line for Michael Krmencik. The striker turned Jason Denyaour inside out before seeing his effort rebound off the post.
Overall, he won 69% of his duels, and 100% of those in the air. He, like Soucek, doubled his interceptions to 10 over the 90 minutes and won possession for his team 11 times on the night. It’s the sort of relentless display we’ve become used to with him.
Soucek and Coufal face Wales on Tuesday in their last World Cup qualifier of this international break. Hopefully, they can continue their impressive displays and bring their form back to east London for our Premier League run-in.
In other West Ham news, Mipo Odubeko is turning heads again in the youth ranks.