Tomas Soucek is convinced that there should not have been a penalty kick against his team.
Czech national team captain Tomas Soucek shared his impressions of the match of the 4th round of the group stage of the 2024/25 League of Nations with Ukraine.
A tense meeting in Wroclaw, Poland, ended in a draw 1:1. In his comments to Suspilne Sport after the match, the Czech captain did not agree with the penalty awarded to his team, thanks to which the Ukrainians equalized the score.
“What I saw was not a penalty at all. It is difficult to comment because I did not see it on replay. The referee used VAR. I know that in English football there must be a clean handball to award a penalty, but this is the referee's decision – we will have to accept it,” Soucek said.
Tomáš also spoke about the progress of the match against Ukraine, the current leadership of the Czech national team in the League of Nations group and shared his expectations for the last two rounds.
“Didn't have enough energy? I think we had the best chance to score and win 2:1. Ukraine played very dangerously on the counterattack. I think both teams can be happy with a draw – both teams could win or lose. I am happy with the away draw and first place in the table.
I am happy with our results. We took four points in October and are first in the table. We have two more matches ahead of us in November – we want to finish first and get into Division A. But we know that we have a difficult group. Now we have to prepare for the last two matches,” Suspilne Sport quotes the West Ham midfielder as saying.
After four rounds, the Czech Republic is first in Group B1 with 7 points. Georgia and Albania are in second and third place, respectively, with 6 points each. Ukraine is in the quartet with 4 points.
In the next fifth round of the League of Nations, the Ukrainians will play Georgia away, and the Czechs will play Albania away. The matches will take place on November 16.
See also: 2024/25 Nations League: all groups and standings
According to the new format of the Nations League, a participant in the group tournament in Division B, where the Ukrainian national team competes, if it takes:
- first place – will rise to Division A;
- second place – will play playoffs for promotion to Division A with the team that finishes third in the Division A group;
- third place – will play playoffs for retention of registration in Division B with the team that finishes second in the Division C group;
- fourth place – will be relegated to Division C.