{"id":280883,"date":"2026-02-04T20:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/280883\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T20:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:42:07","slug":"czech-manager-describes-irish-style-as-island-football-ahead-of-world-cup-playoff-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/280883\/","title":{"rendered":"Czech manager describes Irish style as \u2018island football\u2019 ahead of World Cup playoff \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miroslav Koubek<\/a>, the recently appointed Czech Republic<\/a> manager, has described the Republic of Ireland\u2019s<\/a> style as \u201cisland football\u201d ahead of the World Cup playoff semi-final in Prague on March 26th.<\/p>\n

If Ireland overcome the Czechs at the Fortuna Arena, they will face the winners of Denmark versus North Macedonia at a sold out Aviva Stadium on March 31st to secure a place at this summer\u2019s tournament in North America.<\/p>\n

\u201cIreland will come with a big heart,\u201d said Koubek on Wednesday. \u201cAnd to fight. They are a very combative team, competitive with quick transitions to attack, very aggressive, organised at the back in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey play the typical, slightly more typical island football than other teams. Where there is a possibility of combination play, we have to be careful, because the Irish know how to combine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a team that plays what its opponent allows it to play,\u201d the 74-year-old continued. \u201cAnd if the opponent allows them too much, they are very strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my point of view, they are an average team in terms of play, but with an immense heart, and extremely solid and determined. In addition, there is cohesion and they work as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a Czech journalist was asked to translate what Koubeck meant by \u201cisland football\u201d, he said: \u201cIt is more commonly associated with England and Scotland. It means a simple game, crosses into the penalty area for players to head. No great technique, but speed, efficiency, and fighting spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VladimírVladim\u00edr Darida of Hertha BSC. Photograph: Martin Rose\/Getty <\/p>\n

Koubeck is expected to recall former captain Vladim\u00edr Darida, five years after his last cap against Denmark at Euro 2021, as the 35-year-old midfielder is having a strong season for FC Hradec Kr\u00e1lov\u00e9 in the Czech league.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we approached him, it\u2019s because we want him on the team,\u201d said Koubek. \u201cHe\u2019s the best midfielder in the Czech league. He has a wealth of international experience. Even in football, they say, \u2018never say never\u2019. So we hope that applies in his case. He knows we need help. He fits into our system with his style and creativity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Darida could sit in midfield alongside West Ham\u2019s Tom\u00e1\u0161 Sou\u010dek, who is expected to feature against Ireland despite being stripped of the captaincy following a dispute with fans after the last World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar in November. The standoff between the team and its supporters led to the Czech FA withholding bonus payments of around \u20ac2,000 for each player. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can always count on Tom\u00e1\u0161, he\u2019s a Premier League player and a big personality,\u201d said Koubek, \u201cNothing has changed in terms of his importance. He respects the fact that he won\u2019t be captain, he\u2019s not happy about it, nor about the consequences after the end of the qualifiers against Gibraltar. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve coached about half of the players at various clubs [in the Czech Republic]. And I want the other half not to be afraid of me. Simply put, I want the ice to melt and the doors to open.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FAI received 6,000 ticket requests for the playoff in Prague but were given an allocation of 1,024 as the Fortuna Arena capacity is 19,370. The successful applicants will be contacted by Friday, February 13th.<\/p>\n

Following an enormous demand for tickets from Irish fans, the Czech FA decided to update its distribution strategy, with tickets only accessible through a loyalty programme and with Czech identification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miroslav Koubek, the recently appointed Czech Republic manager, has described the Republic of Ireland\u2019s style as \u201cisland football\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,1842,112,4018],"class_list":{"0":"post-280883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-world-cup"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}