The Hindu : Sport : Tomas Rosicky's double whammy floors the U.S.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 13, 2006

Sport

Sport

Tomas Rosicky's double whammy floors the U.S.

Painful end for opening goal scorer Jan Koller

GELSENKIRCHEN: Tomas Rosicky scored twice as the Czech Republic enjoyed an impressive 3-0 victory over the United States in their World Cup opener on Monday.

Giant striker Jan Koller, who opened the scoring, had headed in the first goal but his afternoon suffered a painful end when he was stretchered off injured on the stroke of half-time. He was taken to a hospital to be examined, the Czech team said.

Koller found the net in the fifth minute and new Arsenal signing Rosicky was on target in the 36th and 76th minutes in the crucial Group E match.

American skipper Claudio Reyna said the early strike had put his men on the backfoot. ``Their first goal put us back on our heels,'' he said.

``We played well and hit the post but we then made some tactical changes which didn't work. We needed some width and couldn't get it.''

Experience

Reyna is convinced that the team's young players need to use the experience of the match when they face mighty Italy on Saturday.

``They will be tough to beat but we have to bounce back and learn from this. Some of the guys in the team are new to the World Cup and they were a little nervous. Now we must look forward and see what we are made of. We will have to be aggressive and not hesitant.''

Koller scored when he met a right wing cross from Zdenek Grygera that eluded two defenders. The 2.01m attacker's 43rd goal in 69 matches came from point-blank range.

Midfielder Rosicky struck in the 36th minute, blasting a right-footed 25-metre shot past goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who dived to his left in vain. Rosicky struck again in the second half to seal the triumph, flicking a left-foot shot past Keller eight minutes after smashing a shot off the crossbar.

However, the Czech Republic, already struggling to get Euro 2004 top scorer Milan Baros fit, could now be without Koller after the big front man, out for much of the season with a knee injury, appeared to tear a hamstring.

Pulling the strings

With Pavel Nedved pulling the strings in midfield the Czechs looked the better side in the first half hour but the US did carve an opening in the 28th minute when captain Claudio Reyna struck the base of a post from outside the box.

However, that effort was eclipsed eight minutes later by Rosicky. Seizing on a poor clearance by Oguchi Onyewu, the midfielder let fly from more than 25 metres to leave Kasey Keller helpless as the ball swerved away from him into the top left corner.

The Czechs continued to look the more dangerous side after the break despite US coach Bruce Arena changing to a more attacking formation.

Eddie Johnson, who entered at halftime, provided some energy, missing wide in the 70th minute and high in the 76th. — Agencies

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