Republic of Ireland's conquerors Czechia booked their place in the summer’s World Cup with a second penalty shootout victory in Prague in less than a week.
The Fortuna Stadium last week witnessed a dramatic 2-2 draw and a continuation of Czechia’s 100% winning record from penalty shootouts as Irish World Cup dreams were cruelly dashed.
This week it was a different venue – epet Arena, home to the oldest club in Czech football in Sparta Prague – and higher ranked opposition in Denmark, but it was a similar result, four goals evenly split before the hosts prevailed from the spot.
The Danes surprisingly fell behind early on when Pavel Sulc found the top corner with a first-time strike after three minutes.
Leading at the break, the visitors drew level in the 72nd minute through a Joachim Andersen header and the game went to extra time.
Ladislav Krejci has looked right at home since taking over the Czechia captain’s armband from Tomas Soucek, scoring four minutes from time against Ireland to force extra-time, and was on the scoresheet again in the capital city to restore his side’s lead.
The hosts were pegged back again when Kasper Hogh scored, but a first World Cup appearance for Czechia since 2006 awaits after winning 3-1 on penalties.
