The makeshift Czech side, featuring nine debutants, was put together at the last minute after a coronavirus outbreak in the squad.
ADVERTISEMENTScotland secured a narrow win in the Nations League on Monday night against a Czech Republic side that had been forced to completely change its lineup due to quarantine rules.
The makeshift Czech side, featuring nine debutants, was put together at the last minute after a coronavirus outbreak in the squad.
The whole squad had to go into quarantine, including the manager Jaroslav Silhavy, leaving the coach of the Czech under-18s, David Holoubek, to take the reins.
Despite having an entirely new squad, captained by 36-year-old defender Roman Hubnik, the Czechs put on a good showing against Scotland in League B of the Nations League on Monday in Olomouc.
They even took an early lead with a Jakub Pesek goal in the 11th minute.
However, the Scottish team eventually overcame them, running out 2-1 winners.
The scramble to assemble an entire new national side was just a more extreme example of the ‘new normal’ in football, in which individual players have been forced to quarantine upon testing positive for COVID-19, while others have been punished for breaking rules designed to protect teams from coronavirus.
French star Kylian Mpabbe will miss France’s match against Croatia today, after testing positive, the French federation said on Monday.
And yesterday two England players were dismissed from the squad after allegedly breaking coronavirus rules by meeting women outside of the team ‘bubble’.