Czech Republic defender Jaroslav Zelený has warned Bafana Bafana ahead of their FIFA World Cup clash on Thursday evening in Atlanta.
Having lost their opening World Cup match 2-1 to South Korea, the Czechs are looking to bounce back with a win over South Africa.
Bafana went down 2-0 to Mexico and find themselves bottom of Group A.
Zelený feels his team are better off than Bafana given that the atleast scored a goal in their loss to South Korea. He expects a physical game with both teams looking for their first win of the tournament.
“The opponent will be typologically different. Korea had a lot of speed, South Africa has more power players,” the defender was quoted on Czech Republic website.
Bafana need to beat Czech Republic on Thursday
“I think the game will be a little more physical. I saw their first crazy match. Not that they would completely rush into the press and it would be a real duel.
“It was the opening match, so maybe one team was waiting to see what the other would do. They are in a similar situation to us, and they didn’t score a goal, so they are a little worse off.”
Zelený believes Czech Republic are more prepared than Bafana and were better off.
“At the moment they are in last place, and they will perceive it the same way we do. It will be either or. As soon as they don’t do something to us, it will be a dead end for them. We need to prepare better than them and win the match.”
Bafana and Czech Republic face off on Thursday evening in Atlanta with both teams desperately looking for a win. Kick off is set for 18:00 SA time.
