Quarterfinals of the University Football League

On Wednesday, October 16th, at the Sparta Prague training center on the third-generation artificial turf at Strahov in Prague, the teams of VŠE and MUNI faced off in the quarterfinals of the University Football League.

Both teams fielded strong lineups, and from the start, it was a fast-paced match showcasing great technical skills on both sides. VŠE threatened first, but in one instance, Šenkýř’s shot went wide, and later Sklenička was denied by the excellent goalkeeper of the away team. In the following passage, the visiting team from Brno gained confidence, but as they also failed to convert their big chances, the match remained scoreless. The deadlock was finally broken in the 29th minute when Šenkýř finished off a counterattack, converting his second big chance of the game to score the first goal of the match. Following this, MUNI pushed a lot, while VŠE focused on counterattacks. Just before halftime, the home team scored again. A beautiful long pass from Mucha led to Diviš scoring the second goal, beating the visiting goalkeeper on the second attempt, giving the Prague team a two-goal lead that held until halftime.

In the second half, the pattern of play didn’t change much: MUNI continued to push forward, while VŠE relied on counterattacks. One such counter in the 61st minute resulted in the third goal, with Diviš scoring his second of the match. This time, he was in the right place at the right time in the opponent’s box, capitalizing on Sklenička’s work to score into an open net – 3:0 for VŠE. Two minutes later, MUNI saw a glimmer of hope when a handball by a VŠE player in the penalty area resulted in a penalty. However, the hope was short-lived as the visitors failed to convert the penalty. After that, both teams made several substitutions, and the game played out without any bigger chances. At the final whistle, the score remained VŠE 3 – MUNI 0. The home team, VŠE, advanced to the semifinals of the competition after two years and will surely aim to improve on their fourth-place finish from 2022.

Coach Jiří Kotáb’s evaluation of VŠE: “First of all, I want to commend the visitors from Brno, who came at full strength, even though the match didn’t start at the most optimal time. It was a very tight match. What made the difference was our better efficiency in finishing, and I think our team calmed down after the second goal before halftime. From that moment, I was confident we would win. Special praise goes to newcomer Roman Diviš, who was brought in to improve our finishing, which had been letting us down, for example, at the academic championships this year. Roman delivered with two goals in his debut. However, the entire team deserves praise for maintaining a high standard throughout the match. The substitutes also deserve recognition, as even though they didn’t get as much time on the pitch, they supported the team the whole match!”