Little Mozart on song

The Czech Republic has sent out a warning to the rest of the World Cup field with a dominating 3-0 victory over the USA in Gelsenkirchen.

Rosicky on target

Arsenal bound midfielder Tomas Rosicky was the star of the show with a goal either side of half time to cap off a stunning individual performance.

On 36 minutes the former Borussia Dortmund man scored an early contender for goal of the tournament with a 35 yard thunderbolt.

After the break he combined with midfield partner Pavel Nedved to seal the victory, the Juventus player putting the 25 year old into space as he out paced the defence before slotting the ball home.

 

Only the woodwork stopped him from a hat-trick when another long range effort struck the crossbar.

Tomas Rosicky leads the way
Tomas Rosicky leads the way

Tomas Rosicky leads the way

The game was just five minutes old when giant striker Jan Koller showed why someone of his frame is referred to as a target man when he crashed a header into the back of the net.

The only blemish on the day for the Czechs was a possible World Cup ending injury for the man mountain towards the end of the half.

Reeling from the initial setback, the USA took some time to regain their composure, but to their credit they started to engage the Czechs once they did.

Their best chance came when captain Claudio Reyna’s long range effort slammed against the post on 28 minutes.

In the second half, substitute Eddie Johnson showed some enterprise, but in truth Czech keeper Petr Cech was rarely tested as the Europeans showed why they occupy the number two spot on the World Rankings.

Source: Al Jazeera