PRAGUE, March 30 : Czech Republic manager Miroslav Koubek hailed his side’s penalty shootout win over Ireland as a show of great mentality, but wants more composure in their World Cup playoff final against a very different Denmark side.
The Czechs, looking to reach their first World Cup since 2006, went two goals down to Ireland early in Thursday’s semi-final but despite a sub-par performance they came back to draw level and win on penalties.
That was Koubek’s first game in charge, and while his players got the job done, the 74-year-old coach wants more from his side in Tuesday’s game in Prague.
“That victory definitely helped us and I want to highlight the players’ performance,” Koubek told reporters.
“The mental side – the commitment, the fight, the work they put into the match – I think that got pushed a bit into the background, but it was the biggest factor in our win.
“There is room for improvement, we saw that, we know there are things we could have done differently. But it was a victory of will and character, and on the football side we will certainly want to improve things.”
Koubek believes Denmark will be an altogether different proposition than Ireland, and wants his players to show greater calm than they did in the last game.
“They have very good individuals, technically strong, very good combination play,” he said.
“It’s a team that has been together a long time, very stable. Their philosophy is completely different from Ireland’s. We want to be less nervous. We were nervous, we felt the moment, and we need to relax a bit.
“We are capable of playing similar football to Denmark. I keep asking for us to get on the ball more than we did against Ireland, and to improve the team’s ability to play.”
