{"id":359018,"date":"2026-03-22T08:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T08:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/359018\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T08:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T08:24:14","slug":"i-recently-sat-in-the-away-dugout-at-fortuna-arena-ireland-are-in-for-a-hostile-night-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/359018\/","title":{"rendered":"I recently sat in the away dugout at Fortuna Arena. Ireland are in for a hostile night \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prague is beautiful at this time of year. Emerging from a bitter enough winter, the weather here has turned pleasant again and the evenings are beginning to stretch out a little.<\/p>\n

There is a tangible sense of optimism and confidence in the air too that the Czech national team can knock the Republic of Ireland<\/a> out of World Cup<\/a> contention next Thursday in the Fortuna Arena and advance to a playoff final against either Denmark or North Macedonia.<\/p>\n

For the travelling Irish fans lucky enough to have tickets for the game, a scene of hostility awaits them at the home of Slavia Prague.<\/p>\n

I know this because I was camped in the opposition dugout only a couple of weeks ago with the rest of Sparta Prague\u2019s coaching team as the city derby and top-of-the-table clash unfolded. We got our noses in front in first-half stoppage-time before losing our way in the second half and allowing Slavia back in the game.<\/p>\n

Tom\u00e1\u0161 Chor\u00fd, the Czech international and Slavia\u2019s go-to striker, did the damage \u2013 grabbing two goals and assisting for the third.<\/p>\n

I hope Ireland experience an entirely different outcome at the Fortuna Arena next Thursday night.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll miss the game as I\u2019ll be in Bergamo with Northern Ireland trying to plot the downfall of hosts Italy in another one-legged semi-final playoff affair. <\/p>\n

Back in the noughties, I was fortunate enough to represent the Republic of Ireland at youth level right through to under-21. I finished up under Don Givens. So, I\u2019d love Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/a>\u2019s team to be leaving Prague with their World Cup dream intact.<\/p>\n

\"SpartaSparta Prague assistant coach Diarmuid O’Carroll (left) represented Ireland up to under-21 level during his playing days. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Putting my own patriotic bias aside, though, the Irish lads have their work cut out against a side I\u2019ve come to know and respect since hooking up with Sparta last summer.<\/p>\n

To begin with, the Fortuna Arena is the most inhospitable environment for visiting teams.<\/p>\n

With a capacity of just under 20,000, it\u2019s not huge, but it\u2019s a proper modern stadium. Compact, no gaps, full to the brim. Almost vertical tiers that feel like human walls when you\u2019re at pitchside. And it\u2019ll be loud \u2013 especially among the Ultras, who are housed behind one of the goals.<\/p>\n

While Ireland will be buoyed by their incredible wins over Portugal and Hungary in this rollercoaster qualification campaign, they\u2019re facing an opponent that expects to progress to the playoff final.<\/p>\n

The level of player across the Czech squad makes them slight favourites, plus they\u2019re at home. They\u2019ll fancy this tie, no question.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve got a lot of players who are playing at the top level \u2013 not necessarily the English Premier League, but the top tiers in Germany and Italy. And they have good attacking options.<\/p>\n

They have players who are used to playing in the Champions League<\/a> and Europa League, so they won\u2019t be spooked by this occasion. <\/p>\n

Of course, Ireland also have players with experience of playing in European competitions and the Czechs might underestimate the level of this team.<\/p>\n

\"CzechCzech fans light flares during their team’s World Cup qualifier match against Croatia at Fortuna Arena, Prague, last October. Photograph: Marko Lukunic\/Pixsell\/MB Media\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Many of the Irish boys aren\u2019t well known across Europe but they\u2019re still good players in their own right. The camaraderie and the traditional Irish spirit will be a leveller.<\/p>\n

The Czech squad boasts several young players who\u2019ve come through the ranks at Slavia. Given the venue, they\u2019ll try and feed into that.<\/p>\n

The noise generated by the home crowd should only count for so much. Of far greater significance will be the on-pitch aggression. It\u2019ll be a physical, up-and-at-them type of game. <\/p>\n

Culturally, the Czech people are mentally strong. It\u2019s a working country, they\u2019re used to grafting; there is no soft culture here.<\/p>\n

All their players are well able to look after themselves. The Czech boys are brilliant that way. Very together, very focused on the basics \u2013 a manager\u2019s dream, really. They\u2019ll put sweat into the jersey.<\/p>\n

They have an experienced crew at the back. Our own Jaroslav Zeleny of Sparta has had two close-up encounters with Troy Parrott<\/a>\u2018s AZ Alkmaar in the Uefa Conference League over the last week and knows what level of player the Czech defence is facing. <\/p>\n

I like Zeleny. He\u2019s 33, a good player, cultured left foot, previously had a spell with Slavia Prague and has quite a few caps at this stage of his career and won\u2019t be fazed by the occasion.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a very mellow kind of guy. He generally plays left of a back three for the national team. He mightn\u2019t be up against Parrott directly in Prague next week, but he can advise his teammates.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Jurasek will look to take the ball forward for Czech Republic against Ireland next Thursday. Photograph: Michal Cizek\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

He\u2019ll tell them Parrott likes contact and he\u2019s a game runner. You need to be keeping an eye on him in the box as some of his runs certainly hurt us across the two legs. Parrott just has a well-rounded skill set.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Czechs carry significant attacking threats themselves. Their coach, Miroslav Koubek, is a wily operator.<\/p>\n

Toss a coin between a 3-4-3 and 3-5-2.<\/p>\n

What we know is Koubek doesn\u2019t harbour lofty ideas of playing through midfield. He prefers a more vertical style of football and plays to the strengths of his playing pool. <\/p>\n

West Ham\u2019s Tom\u00e1\u0161 Sou\u010dek and Lukas Provod of Slavia are good players but the Czech style is generally to miss midfield.<\/p>\n

They simply don\u2019t have a creative, ball-playing type of player. What they have got is stoppers, number 10s, plenty of legs and physicality \u2013 but they don\u2019t have an elite-level creative midfielder.<\/p>\n

If they had someone like Stanislav Lobotka of Slovakia, they\u2019d be a top team.<\/p>\n

The Czechs have other ways of ushering the ball into the final third of the pitch. For sure, Hallgr\u00edmsson will have done his homework on David Jurasek, a powerful left wingback.<\/p>\n

Jurasek has Bundesliga experience and is currently in good form with Slavia. A great left foot who won\u2019t turn down a cross. <\/p>\n

No matter who the Czechs play in attack, Jurasek will supply them with opportunities.<\/p>\n

The Czech attack is where Ireland must be vigilant.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Patrik Schick: The dangerous Czech striker Ireland must stop in PragueOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Patrik Schick of Bayer Leverkusen is a top, top player \u2013 a major threat to Ireland\u2019s hopes. Schick is in the same mould as Chor\u00fd of Slavia who\u2019s flying in the Czech Liga. Both are big, imposing strikers who won\u2019t shy away from a tackle. <\/p>\n

Schick is definitely ahead of Chor\u00fd in terms of ability and is sure to start in attack. <\/p>\n

Going on club form, Pavel \u0160ulc will probably nail one of the other attacking berths as he\u2019s scored 10 goals in 21 games for Lyon this season.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d imagine it\u2019ll be \u0160ulc and Schick in attack \u2013 but don\u2019t rule out \u0160ulc playing behind Chor\u00fd and Schick. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s so hard to call a winner in Prague next Thursday. I think it\u2019ll be 2-1 either way. It depends on who wins the set-piece battle.<\/p>\n

If Ireland come out on top in set-plays, they win the game. If they don\u2019t, they\u2019ll lose the game. It won\u2019t be vintage, possession-based football or a game for the purists. <\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be a physical, rugged affair, a lot of box entries, a lot of crosses and set-plays. <\/p>\n

Whoever deals with their own box best will win the game.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m just hoping it\u2019ll be Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Killarney native Diarmuid O\u2019Carroll played at every level up to under-21 for the Republic of Ireland. He is assistant coach with Sparta Prague and Northern Ireland <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prague is beautiful at this time of year. Emerging from a bitter enough winter, the weather here has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[56982,61,60,43,1842,4018],"class_list":["post-359018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-czech-republic","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359018","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=359018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}