Wolves' Ladislav Krejci leads Czechia to World Cup as West Brom debut, Villa mixed fortunes | OneFootball

Wolves' Ladislav Krejci led Czechia to their first World Cup in 20 years, edging past Denmark on penalties after extra time.

Having scored in the semi-final days earlier, the captain struck in extra time after a 1-1 draw in normal time. Denmark levelled to force a shootout, Krejci missed his kick, and Czechia prevailed 3-1.

"Penalties are a bit of a lottery, but they also reflected the way we approached the game. Im proud of everyone." He told Czech TV.

Jackson Tchatchoua captained Cameroon in a 2-0 friendly win over China. David Moller Wolfe featured for Norway in a 0-0 draw with Switzerland before being replaced by Torbjorn Heggem. Jean Ricner Bellegarde was a late substitute in Haiti’s 1-1 draw with Iceland.

Jose Sa played 85 minutes for Portugal in a 2-0 friendly against World Cup hosts USA. On-loan striker Sasa Kalajdzic featured for Austria in a 1-0 win over South Korea.

West Brom’s Ousmane Diakite made his senior Mali debut, coming on in the second half of a 0-0 draw with Russia after a call-up earned by strong club form and a new deal. Souleyman Mandey debuted for Austria under-21s in a 2-1 win over Belarus.

Aston Villa’s Matty Cash will miss the World Cup after Poland lost 3-2 to Sweden in their play-off, while Victor Lindelöf captained the victors. England lost 1-0 to Japan, the first Asian side to ever beat England. Emi Martinez started in Argentina’s 5-0 win over Zambia, and Youri Tielemans began Belgium’s 1-1 draw with Mexico.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com