Czech’s “Guided-Ball Nuclear Weapon”—South Korea’s air-raid alert has already sounded

If you ask what the Czech team’s most effective scoring tactic is, nine out of ten Czech fans will tell you: set pieces. From the 2024 European Championship to the present, among the more than forty goals the Czech team has scored in official matches, nearly half have come from corners, free kicks, or penalties. This level of reliance on set pieces ranks among the top in the World Cup Round of 32. Against South Korea, set pieces are absolutely the Czech team’s biggest boom.

Why are the Czech team’s set pieces so strong? The reason is simple: they’re too tall. Hřick is 1.91 meters, Souček is 1.92 meters, Krejčí is 1.90 meters, and Čofal is 1.87 meters. Once these big guys stand in the box, South Korea’s defensive line—apart from Kim Min-jae—simply can’t reach them. Lee Kang-in is 1.73 meters, Son Heung-min is 1.83 meters, and Kim Jin-su is 1.77 meters, and they suffer badly when it comes to contesting aerial balls. Even if Kim Min-jae can win the first ball, the second and third are very likely to be controlled by the Czech team.

South Korea’s team has already exposed shortcomings in defending against aerial play in warm-up matches. Against Austria, the opponent’s goal came from a corner header; against Côte d’Ivoire, one of the goals conceded also came from a cross along the flank that was headed in. Czech scouts have surely studied this footage thoroughly. They will go crazy creating set pieces in the attacking area, and then bomb South Korea’s penalty area with headers.

How should South Korea respond? Hong Myung-bo may have Kim Min-jae mark Hřick, then bring back players who are relatively taller—like Cho Kyu-sung or Hwang Ui-jo—to take part in the defensive effort. But this is only a stopgap measure and it’s hard to solve the problem at its root. A more effective approach is to reduce fouls in dangerous areas, deny the Czech team free-kick opportunities, and at the same time do everything possible to disrupt the quality of crosses in wide-area defending.

I think in this match, if the Czech team can score, it will most likely be via set pieces. If you’re playing prediction markets, you might consider backing “Czech goal method: header” or “first-half total corners greater than 5.5.” The odds for these options should be fairly attractive. Of course, if South Korea can take an early lead and force the Czech team to abandon their crossing tactics, then the threat of the Czech team’s set pieces will be reduced. It all comes down to who can seize the initiative in the opening phase.

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