Czech Penalty Kick No Soft Touch

With a minute to go in Czechoslovakia’s 5-1 victory over the United States on Sunday, American goalkeeper Tony Meola stopped Michal Bilek’s penalty kick.

Bilek, instead of kicking the ball as hard as he could, hit a soft shot right at Meola. That angered the American players, who felt Bilek was trying to show them up.

“That’s kind of just trying to embarrass the U.S.A.,” forward Chris Sullivan said.

Actually, no. Czechoslovakia won a European championship on a penalty kick like that in 1976. But Meola thought it was a deliberate attempt to make the Americans look bad.

“I had a feeling the guy was going to try to do me some way, some how,” Meola said. “I said, ‘If this guy’s going to beat me, I’m not going to dive. I’ll stay right down the middle.’ Maybe he learned his lesson. He had a chance to score in the World Cup and he passed it.”