EURO 2016: Opening defeat for Kaderabek and Czech Republic

For a long time it looked as if Pavel Kaderabek and the Czech Republic national team would get off to a decent start at the European Championship in France. They kept Spain at bay for 87 minutes but then Gerard Piqué struck.

The Czech defence, in which Kaderabek played the full 90 minutes at right back, only once failed to deal with the Spaniards and just three minutes before the end. The Czech Republic couldn’t prevent Iniesta’s cross and Piqué was on hand in the middle to net the winning goal for the defending champions.

Spain dominated the game and created some good openings. The right side of the Czech Republic’s defence, so Kaderabek‘s side, rode their luck on several occasions. Together with Bremen’s Theo Gebre Selassie, Kaderabek had to withstand some dangerous situations. The Czechs generally defended well and keeper Petr Czech was in fine form to thwart Spain. The EURO 2012 winners found a gap in the defence in the 87th minute though and condemned Kaderabek and co. to an unfortunate opening defeat.

The Czech Republic’s next Group D game is on Friday, 17th June. They’ll face Croatia and the match sees Kaderabek go head to head with TSG teammate Andrej Kramaric.