South Africa and Czech Republic renew brief but significant rivalry

[p]The pair clash in the second Group A game at the 2026 World Cup in Atlanta on Thursday, both needing a win after they succumbed to losses in their opening fixtures to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mexico/O6iHcNkd/"]Mexico[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-korea/K6Gs7P6G/"]South Korea[/a], respectively.[/p][p]They will each also see this as an excellent chance to get their campaigns back on track, but both also looked vulnerable in their first games.[/p][p]Their only other meeting was at the 1997 Confederations Cup, a tournament that led to the sacking of Clive Barker despite the fact that he had led the side to the World Cup the following year.[/p][embed guid="b5770c92-eacd-4728-8f2c-f07eb32c0570" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ6c_8nwXTY" social-type="youtube" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/W2ijYvlr/"]South Africa[/a] were captained by the late [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/motaung-sizwe/p43se9e6/"]Sizwe Motaung[/a] despite the presence of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tovey-neil/WK1kgmQI/"]Neil Tovey[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moshoeu-john/QgVqdlEt/"]Shoes Moshoeu[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/khumalo-doctor/bio9h6D5/"]Doctor Khumalo[/a] in the side.[/p][p]The Czechs led twice but, on both occasions, Bafana came back to equalise, with their second coming from current assistant coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mkhalele-helman/8IKle8Tn/"]Helman Mkhalele[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smicer-vladimir/MenprHPl/"]Vladimír Šmicer[/a], then at Lens but later to sign for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a], gave the Czechs the lead, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/augustine-brendan/n9JhfSrg/"]Brendan Augustine[/a] equalised for South Africa with a header. He would infamously be sent home from the World Cup six months later after an alleged night out.[/p][p]But just a minute after that goal, Šmicer netted again for his second to give the European side a halftime lead.[/p][p]That was the way it stayed until five minutes from the end, when Mkhalele popped up with another equaliser with a belting strike from 25-yards that flew into the top corner. That came after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nemec-jiri/OMPsohEE/"]Jiří Němec[/a] was sent off for the Czechs three minutes earlier.[/p][embed guid="b92a25ac-089f-4fcc-8b98-1b9beea99db6" url="https://x.com/BafanaBafana/status/2065420426931503471?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Bafana would go on to lose to the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/united-arab-emirates/Knrj3QiN/"]United Arab Emirates[/a] 1-0 and to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uruguay/xMk44orG/"]Uruguay[/a] 4-3, results that cost Barker his job as SAFA panicked ahead of their World Cup debut.[/p][p]They instead appointed Philippe Troussier, which proved a disaster from start to finish.[/p][p]South Africa’s only other connection with Czech football is a tenuous one as referee Radek Prihoda presided over a 1-0 friendly loss to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/poland/2HzmcynI/"]Poland[/a] in 2012.[/p][p][b]The teams:[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/czech-republic/6LHwBDGU/"]Czech Republic[/a]: [/b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/srnicek-pavel/GABZ8872/"]Pavel Srníček[/a]; [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hornak-michal/SpJFh750/"]Michal Horňák[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/svoboda-zdenek/2uExdkt0/"]Zdeněk Svoboda[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rada-karel/2oCDazdn/"]Karel Rada[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vlcek-petr/b9wOnMcb/"]Petr Vlček[/a]; [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nedved-pavel/d2Sx7KDN/"]Pavel Nedvěd[/a], Jiří Němec, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bejbl-radek/OvHBGsTG/"]Radek Bejbl[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lasota-edvard/GIVvLaLA/"]Edvard Lasota[/a]; [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kuka-pavel/4SXJE7qS/"]Pavel Kuka[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sloncik-radek/4xFw4xhE/"]Radek Slončík[/a] 89’), Vladimír Šmicer ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/poborsky-karel/65mvGUso/"]Karel Poborský[/a] 84’). [b]Coach:[/b] Dušan Uhrin.[/p][p][b]South Africa: [/b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arendse-andre/ldaesxYB/"]Andre Arendse[/a], Sizwe Motaung, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jackson-willem/hMSNxRDI/"]Willem Jackson[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fish-mark/SAUtgtNP/"]Mark Fish[/a], Neil Tovey, John Moshoeu, Helman Mkhalele, Doctor Khumalo ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ngobe-dumisa/rot29Wl0/"]Dumisa Ngobe[/a] 37’), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moeti-john/lptEew7n/"]John Moeti[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/masinga-phil/WCRRyoTO/"]Phil Masinga[/a], Brendan Augustine ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-mark/fHlmrSpi/"]Mark Williams[/a] 73’). [b]Coach: [/b]Clive Barker.[/p]