Czechia refuse to dwell on Bafana’s Mexico defeat ahead of Atlanta showdown

Just like Bafana, the Eastern Europeans came off the second best in their opening Group A match against South Korea, losing 2-1. Like any team that has done its homework, Koubek has easily picked up that Bafana will line up differently in today’s game at the Mercedes-Benz stadium.

"South Africa has chosen a completely neutral style against Mexico. They always play like that. I think the players have received different roles compared to what they usually play; there is a bit of movement. So now I don't expect the same effect, and we expect a different style of play from South Africa," said Koubek.

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Against the Koreans last week, the Czech Republic came off second best, but Koubek was confident yesterday that against Bafana Bafana, they will be back to their best. But he’s also feeling some tension too.

Weather conditions are also going to be key for this game, with the previous games having been played at high altitude in Mexico and now coming to play in a different climate. Czechia captain Ladislav Krejci believes that now they are at an advantage.

"We've already spoken a lot about this after the matches and how we felt, for example, with the ball in play with the legends and then the rest. We've had to talk a bit about it."

"And I got used to it in the first few minutes because it was the same for all of us. Like when the ball was in the air , it moved in different ways, which in my opinion was due to the altitude and the surface; then it became more of an individual thing."

"So I think in the first half we didn't feel it. In the end, whether it was at sea level or not, it wasn't a normal exhaustion. It's hard to speculate about it, but we didn't feel anything that affected us so much that we needed to pay more attention."

Both teams are expected to bring in some new faces for this game, as they go all out for maximum points. Koubek appears to be convinced that Bafana will come with an expensive approach.