Out of superstition, football representative Tomáš Vaclík did not congratulate his former Sevilla teammate and rival goalkeeper Jasín Bunú for progressing to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
In an interview with ČTK, he ranked the 31-year-old Moroccan among the three best goalkeepers of the Qatar tournament, for him the Croatian Dominik Livakovič is number one in the league so far.
“We’re a bit in contact. I have the feeling that if I wrote to Bono, they would immediately withdraw from the next game. Usually, when I congratulate someone, the next game doesn’t go well or fails. So I didn’t write to him”. Vaclík said with a smile.
He praises Bunúa for his performance, although according to him, thanks to the solid Moroccan defense, he was not in such a stable position. “Bono is definitely in the top three. But in the matches I’ve seen he hasn’t had much. Against Portugal (in the quarterfinals) he made about three saves, against Spain (in the round of 16) he faced maybe a direct shot, and then he took three penalties,” said the Olympiakos Piraeus goalkeeper.
“If I take regular playing time and extra time into consideration, not just the penalty shootout, so far the best goalkeeper for me has been Livakovič from Croatia. He really made a lot of tackles. I also have Martínez from Argentina in the top three. Although it is terribly unfair to Lloris that France overcame England in the quarter-finals,” Vaclík added.
According to him, Morocco, which in addition to Bunú is also represented by another of his former team-mates from Sevilla, striker Júsuf Nasjrí, can surprise even the golden defenders of France in the semi-finals. “It probably won’t be the same match, for example, against Spain, when Morocco used to play from the block and only on the counterattack. I think France will let them play with the ball a little more. But they can definitely prove it, they are in great shape,” said Vaclík. “They had a great result and I’m curious if they can carry it to the end. At the moment they have the luck a team needs in the tournament to be hugely successful,” added the 33-year-old. doorman.
Consider the African team a difficult and unpleasant opponent. “But it would also be interesting to see if they were the first to concede goals, which they haven’t done yet in the tournament. This probably wouldn’t play with their cards and style. Their defense is well developed. What flies through, Bono catches , they have extremely fast and technically excellent players” Vaclík said.
He was surprised that the minimum number of goals were scored in Qatar after shots from outside the box. “The areas where goals are scored are probably clogged. Tchouaméni scored a goal from behind the area, then I remember Rashford’s free kick. But they don’t score many. It will also be because the teams play a little deeper. They don’t I see everyone in the matches completely chased the opponent and attacked the game from the very beginning. Perhaps the fact that the tournament is now in winter also plays a role” thought the native of Ostrava.
He was also surprised by the great success of goalkeepers in penalties. Enforcers at the World Cup failed to convert 13 of 33 attempts in four of them, or nearly 40 percent of penalties. “It’s a large number. The goalkeepers hit well. The pressure from the World Cup also plays a part. There is a lot to play and after 120 minutes or more the players are tense. All three come together there.” added Vaclík, who is recovering from shoulder surgery.
