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Information Message October 7, 2011 The Czech national football team is thinking about Lithuania before the match against Spain At the beginning of next week, the Czech national football team, arriving in Lithuania with practically its strongest lineup, wants to feel calmer before the trip to our country and today defeat the Spanish team. However, even in the case of such success, the Czechs promised to fight for victory in Kaunas. "We want to avenge last year's defeat," said team captain Tomas Rosicky. Star trio prepares to arrive For the matches against Spain and Lithuania on October 7 and 11, the extended team roster includes 23 players. The team includes all three biggest current Czech national team stars – goalkeeper Petr Cech from London's Chelsea, midfielder Tomas Rosicky from London's Arsenal, and forward Milan Baros from Istanbul's Galatasaray. Defender or midfielder Tomas Hubschman from Donetsk's Shakhtar and defender Jaroslav Plasil from Bordeaux's Girondins also have a lot of experience in high-level matches. Five Czech national team members are playing in Germany. Others represent teams from Ukraine, Belgium, Turkey, France, Italy, and Cyprus. Seven national team members play in the Czech Republic, most of them from the country's champion team Viktoria Plzen. Defender Theodor Gebre Selassie, of Ethiopian descent, was also invited to the Czech national team from the Liberec club Slovan. Former national team midfielder Michal Bilek took over as coach before this cycle. Bilek, who had been an assistant coach in the national team until then, is 46 years old. Personal tragedy did not stop In Group I of the EURO 2012 qualifiers, Spain secured first place with six wins, while Czech Republic leads Scotland by two points in the battle for the second position and also has a better head-to-head record. In the final two matches, Scotland needs to win three points more in away games against Liechtenstein and Spain than Czech Republic will win at home against Spain and Lithuania. Defender Jaroslav Plasil and forward Jan Rezek will miss the match against Spain due to disqualification, and midfielder Marek Matejovsky is unlikely to be able to help the team due to injury. Approaching the last qualifiers, there were concerns that national team captain T. Rosicky might miss the games due to a personal tragedy – his girlfriend suffered a miscarriage in the fifth month of pregnancy. However, the player joined the Czech national team camp after missing the Arsenal club matches, and it is hoped that he will be able to play. Seeking revenge in Lithuania According to 31-year-old T. Rosicky, his team aims to win both matches in the final two qualifiers. "The match against Spain will be very tough, but we are determined to surprise our opponents. In any case, after the last game in Scotland, we know that we need to overcome Lithuania as well. Even if we beat the Spaniards, we want to avenge the loss to Lithuania in Olomouc last year," said the midfielder. National team coach Michal Bilek said that a draw with Spain would be a good result: "It is very important for us to have everything in our own hands before the last match against Lithuania. This means we need to take at least one point from the Spanish team." The Czech-Spain match will take place today at 9:45 p.m. in Prague. Lithuania and Czech Republic will meet at the same time on October 11 at the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Sports Center Stadium in Kaunas. The Czech national football team lineup for the matches against Spain and Lithuania: Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea, England), Jaroslav Drobny (Hamburger SV, Germany), Jan Lastuvka (Dnipro, Ukraine); Defenders: Theodor Gebre Selassie (Liberec Slovan), Roman Hubnik (Hertha Berlin, Germany), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Zdenek Pospech (Mainz 05, Germany), Daniel Pudil (Genk, Belgium), Jan Rajnoch (Ankaragücü, Turkey), Tomáš Sivok (Besiktas, Turkey); Midfielders: Tomas Hubschman (Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine), Petr Jiracek (Viktoria Plzen), Daniel Kolar (Viktoria Plzen), Marek Matejovsky (Sparta Prague), Milan Petržela (Viktoria Plzen), Václav Pilar (Viktoria Plzen), Jaroslav Plasil (Girondins Bordeaux, France), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal, England), Kamil Vacek (Chievo Verona, Italy); Forwards: Milan Baros (Galatasaray, Turkey), David Lafata (Baumit Jablonec), Tomas Pekhart (Nürnberg, Germany), Jan Rezek (Anorthosis Famagusta, Cyprus).
