The Czech Republic, who South Africa face in their second game at the World Cup in North America later this month, finished their pre-tournament preparations with a 3-1 win over Guatemala in New Jersey on Thursday.
Two goals in the last 20 minutes ensured a morale-boosting win after the two sides had been deadlocked at 1-1 at halftime.
Czech captain Patrik Schick gave his side the lead, and Tomáš Chory and Denis Visinsky added the two late goals against the Central American nation, who did not qualify for the World Cup.
Coach Miroslav Koubek selected several players who had been rested in Sunday's 2–1 friendly win over Kosovo, and the Czechs began brightly and took the lead in the 11th minute. A fine move down the right flank started with Vladimír Coufal. The ball passed through Michal Sadílek and Pavel Šulc before reaching Schick, who cut inside and curled a shot into the far corner.
However, from that point on, the Czech team began inviting trouble. In the 20th minute, after one of their own corner kicks, Guatemala launched a swift counterattack. José Rosales found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Matěj Kovář, but narrowly missed the target.
Shortly before the half-hour mark, Jonathan Franco had another good opportunity but shot straight at Kovář from a tight angle. Moments later, a major misunderstanding between Štěpán Chaloupek and Kovář almost led to disaster. The defender attempted a back pass with his chest, but it lacked power, forcing Kovář into emergency action.
Just as it seemed the Czechs were regaining control and creating chances through Tomáš Souček and David Jurásek, Guatemala equalised following another defensive blunder.
The move started with a poor pass from Krejčí and was followed by another mix-up between Kovář and Chaloupek. The situation looked chaotic and could have resulted in a penalty or a foul by Kovář outside the box, but eventually William Fajardo tapped the ball into the net.
Koubek responded by making four substitutions at halftime, and after the break, Schick and Coufal were the first to threaten. Schick came close again in the 56th minute after a long spell of Czech possession around Guatemala's penalty area.
The sustained pressure paid off in the 72nd minute when a cross from David Douděra was headed into the net by Chorý.
Guatemala rarely crossed midfield in the second half but nearly equalised when Arquímides Ordóñez unleashed a shot that caused a collective gasp from the crowd.
Soon afterwards came the decisive moment. Goalkeeper Luis Moran had spent the match confidently playing out from the back, but this time he made a costly mistake, allowing Denis Višinský to score his first international goal.
The Czechs pushed for more, with Chorý and Darida both going close, but no fourth goal arrived.
The team will travel to Dallas on Friday, their World Cup base camp, before heading to Guadalajara for their opening World Cup match against South Korea on Thursday.
South Africa take on the Czechs in Atalanta on June 18.
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