The scorer of Czech Republic’s lone goal in Wednesday’s victory against Nigeria, Tomas Kalas has disclosed that he was able to beat Super Eagles’ goalkeeper, Francis Odinaka Uzoho to the ball only because he has sharp reflexes.
Though many Nigerians would scold Uzoho for not recovering quickly after making the first save from a point blank header, Kalas insists he scored the goal only because he reacted faster on instinct and was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
Kalas, who spent last season on loan at Fulham, netted his second international goal against the Eagles, but refrained from rubbishing the Nigerian team, as he declared that they are a better team than Australia, who beat his side 4-0 last weekend.
The Czechs suffered the biggest loss in their history to the Aussies last week but regained their confidence with Wednesday’s victory over World Cup-bound Nigeria.
In reaction to the feat, the Chelsea central defender, who slammed the ball to the back of the net after Uzoho spilled a goal bound header in the 25th minute, said he was glad to hit the target.
Kalas recounted: ”It usually only reflects on me, but I was in the place where I was supposed to be, and fortunately I hit it as I hit it, and if I did not, it would probably not be a goal. I concentrated so much that it was not a clean shot.
”After what was written about us after Australia, even though the criticism was largely deserved, we had to handle it somehow, and Nigeria was a better team than Australia even though we did not play on such a good pitch.”
