European World Cup Qualifier
Semi-Final
Czechia 2
Ireland 2
(Czechia win 4-3 on Penalties)
At Fortuna Stadium
IRELAND'S World Cup dream is officially over, after a heartbreaking shootout defeat in Prague on Thursday evening saw the Czech's clinch a 4-3 shootout victory after turning around a two-goal deficit in the 90 minutes.
Heimir Halgrimmson's side lived to rue their late defensive frailty and costly penalty concession moments after doubling their lead at the home of Sparta Prague, only to suffer an agonising late equaliser from Czech captain Lukas Krejci.
The crossbar was rattled inside the opening ten minutes after Nathan Collins struck an effort from the edge of the box and the ricochet had Czechia shot-stopper Kovar beaten with the crossbar only saving his side from an early deficit.
Ireland opened the scoring after Collins was impeded in the penalty box after Vladiír Darida clipped the underside of the centre-back's foot and after a VAR review the referee pointed to the spot which allowed Troy Parrott the chance to dispatch into the left hand side of the net to open the scoring.
Moments after the opener Ryan Manning's corner was met by Dara O'Shea who planted his header back into the six-yard box and after a scramble the ball ended up in the net after it bounced off Kovar and the away stand was in dream land.
It was a time for cool heads and a chance to take the sting out of the game but in a moment of madness Manning dragged back Chory on a corner and the Czech's were given a lifeline which was grasped with both hands by Patrik Schick as he blasted the ball home to cut Ireland's deficit.
The remainder of the half proved a scrappy one as tackles flew in from both sides, but to the credit of Glenn Nyberg he was not for blowing the whistle without reason as Heimir Halgrimmson's side clung on to their single goal lead at the break and saw out the half without much hassle from the hosts.
The second-half was very much a different story to the first with Ireland struggling to get to grips with the changes made from the hosts at the break which saw West Ham star Tomas Soucek enter the fray to dominate the midfield game.
Ireland's chances were sparing to say the least, but Jason Molumby's effort on the hour mark looked to have been the one that got away as the midfielder caught a volleyed effort tremendously – only to be denied by the inside post.
Despite it being glaringly obvious the boys in green needed fresh legs, Halgrimmson waited until the 70th minute before freshening up proceedings, but the home side went on to dominate and despite rarely troubling Caoimhín Kelleher's goal, the pressure looked unsustainable for any side to hold out for.
Five minutes from time, the home side were awarded with a dubious free-kick just by the corner flag which saw Ireland undone in the worst fashion losing their lead after failing to pick up captain Krejci who planted a near-post header into the net and gave the home side hope to kick on for the victory.
Extra-time saw both sides approach with caution, and neither really looked like winning the game outside of the spot-kicks. The tiring Troy Parrott would eventually be aided by Adam Idah in the front line, but the former Celtic striker's inability to trap the ball caused issues for the Irish attack.
Soucek almost made it 3-2 with an effort from inside the area but it whipped just too high and over the bar, meanwhile a VAR check had Irish fans panicking momentarily, but when it was clear the handball by Alan Browne was outside the box, play resumed.
The game fizzled out and spot-kicks it was. Would we see a repeat of Packie Bonnar's heroics against Romania in Italia '90, or would hearts be broken in Prague? Hope of the former was certainly in the air after the opening three penalties were flawless from the away side, and when Kelleher saved Chytil's spot-kick and gave Ireland the advantage it looked like a date with destiny in Dublin with the Danes next Tuesday in the World Cup decider was on the cards.
But a weary Finn Azaz took a carbon copy approach to his opposite number and hit a terrible penalty which Kovar easily saved. Patrik Schick had the chance to level the game once more and rolled his penalty into the left corner.
Alan Browne followed up with a another poor spot-kick, Ireland were clinging onto the hopes of their keeper once more. Sadly, Jan Kliment powered a great penalty and sent the Brentford number one the opposite direction and with that the Irish bubble had been burst.
Ireland's meaningless international fixture on Tuesday will no doubt resemble a funeral-like atmosphere with fans in mourning of their loss in the Czechia capital.
