Spain halted by battling Czechs

Spain 1-1 Czech Republic
The Czech Republic and Spain, two of the pre-tournament favourites, drew 1-1 tonight in their opening Group A game of the 2001/02 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in the Melløs stadium.

Impressive pedigrees
Both sides entered the game with an impressive pedigree. The Czechs, runners-up in the last-ever Under-18 event in 2000/01, were targeting glory in the first-ever Under-19 event, while Spain had been installed as many people's favourites after a romp of a qualification campaign in which they hit 24 goals in six games. In the event neither side could find the killer blow in a tense and tight game in the city of Moss, on the east side of Oslofjorden, in which the Spanish enjoyed the more possession but the Czechs showed admirable heart for the battle to battle back from a goal down to secure a point.

Reyes injury
Spain began the game well, with sprightly passing moves pulling the Czech defence in all directions while also rocking the crossbar with a header. On 18 minutes though the Spanish suffered a blow when they lost Sevilla FC forward José Antonio Reyes to injury and were forced to bring on Real Zaragoza's Jorge Pina in his place. The Czechs themselves enjoyed two good opportunities but RSC Anderlecht player Martin Kolác shot wide on both occasions.  As the half drew to a close the play became somewhat heated, with Fernando Torres and Kolác both picking up yellow cards - five more players would enter the referee's book by the end of the game.

Iniesta goal
The Czechs made one change at the break, Ondcej Král replacing Milan Zachariáš in defence. Spain continued to have the better of the play, with Fernando Torres forcing Michal Danck into a good save on the 57th minute. Spain finally got the goal their endeavour merited on 63 minutes when Andrés Iniesta curled a superb free-kick into the net that even the faultless Danck could not halt.

Svcrkoš equaliser
However, Spain's lead lasted just 15 minutes as FC Baník Ostrava forward Václav Svcrkoš kept his cool in a one-on-one situation to slot the ball past the Spanish goalkeeper. Thereafter, Spain created a string of excellent chances in the dying minutes, with Carlos 'Peña' González rattling the crossbar, but the Czechs held out for a draw, to the delight of their coach Josef Krejca.

Coaches' thoughts
"I was very pleased with the performances of goalkeeper Danck, David Mikula and Tomáš Sivok," he said. "It was team spirit that earned us a point from this game." Next up for the Czechs is a local 'derby' against Slovakia, who opened their campaign with an emphatic 5-1 win against hosts Norway. Spain coach Iñaki Saez, whose side face the Norwegians next, has targeted three points from that encounter to keep his side's dreams of Under-19 glory alive. "We had most of the possession, but made one mistake which allowed the Czechs to score," he said. "Now we must beat Norway."