#3 Czech Republic’s defence deserves tons of credit
Spain may have regretted ruining a plethora of opportunities to score, but the Czech defenders were equally - if not more – responsible for keeping the Spaniards at bay until the 87th minute.
The fact that the Czech Republic defence was the leakiest in the qualifying stages could have considered laughable based on the heroic performance by the centre-halves and full-backs against the reigning champions. Pavel Kaderabek, Roman Hubnik, Tomas Sivok and David Limbersky were unbeatable at times in Toulouse, getting bodies in the way of shots and committing themselves to last-man challenges – all of them successful.
They kept absorbing all the Spanish pressure and repelling attack after attack. They were understandably heartbroken at the final whistle, getting nothing out of a warrior-like performance.
