For those of you unfamiliar with Vaclav
Pilar, he is a 23 year old left midfielder, who plays for Wolfsburg.
He has only been playing for the senior national team over the last
year, but has made a big impact. He scored in the play off win over
Montenegro and netted twice in the Group stages. I’d been
impressed with Pilar prior to the Portugal game; he was a bit of an
old school winger – short, fast, tricky, but liable to disappear
completely for long periods of play! He reminded me a bit of ex
Gillingham winger John Hodge (apologies to non Gills fans), who was
one of my favourite players growing up.
Following an individual’s performance
is rather distracting. It certainly affected my enjoyment of the game
as I was continually looking for Mr Pilar and not really
concentrating on the match. I don’t think I could ever be one of
these Opta types who spend entire matches tracking a player.
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| "I'm playing with Milan Baros" |
Against Portugal, Pilar lined up on the
left of midfield, he was supported by full back David Limbersky.
Limbersky was given the task of keeping Nani quiet and it was clear
from an early stage that Pilar’s main duty was to help out in his
department. As an attacking threat he was severely limited, but he
did well in covering Limbersky and tracking Portuguese right back
Pereira. Limbersky was often following Nani all over the field, so
it was up to Pilar to cover at full back. For a player more adept at
coming forward, he did an admirable job defensively. He also looked
comfortable on the ball and played a number of neat passes in
midfield. Unfortunately, he was unable to get much chance to run at
Pereira or join in with the rare Czech attacks.
This pattern continued in the second
half, although Portugal were mainly focusing on the other side of the
field where Ronaldo and Coentrao were causing problems. Pilar did
get one chance to run at the defence and he showcased his skills with
a brilliant run that beat 3 defenders and took him into the penalty
area, sadly his low cross was cut out by Pepe and the move broke
down. That was about it as far as Pilar’s attacking threat went.
In fact, during the final 30 minutes he barely got a kick!
In fairness to Pilar, he was a bit of a
victim of the Czech game plan- Men behind the ball and play for
penalties. It didn’t deserve to work and thankfully it didn’t
work. For Pilar, it was a disappointing end to an excellent
tournament. His goal against Russia was a lovely run and finish,
whilst he made a clever run across the area for his goal against
Greece. Add to that, a few incisive runs, sharp passing and some
solid defensive work, and you’ve got the makings of a very
effective, if slightly lightweight player. He’s sure to be a
regular for club and country for years to come.
Hope that wasn’t too dull to read.
Not one of my favourite reports as it was pretty restrictive and
didn’t really give much of a flavour of the overall game. For what
it’s worth, I was greatly impressed by Portugal. They’ve got one
of the best back fours in the competition, an excellent player maker
in Moutinho and an in-form superstar in Ronaldo. The expected semi
final clash with Spain could be a classic.
The Czechs are limited but game, they
will see this as a successful tournament, having seen Ronaldo destroy
Holland, they decided to play very defensively and it killed the game
as much of a spectacle.
Talking of which, it’s Germany v
Greece tonight. The Greek bus is reversing into the goalmouth as I
speak!
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