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Czech national team coach Karel Bruckner announced the composition of the team for the World Championships starting on June 9th - the coach invited all the strongest players to the team, including those veterans who have not been in the best form recently or have been recovering from injuries.
Despite doubts about their physical condition, forwards Jan Koller and Vratislav Lokvenc, defenders Vladimir Smicer and Karel Poborsky, and defender Zdenek Grygera made it into the team. The biggest problems were caused by J. Koller, who had not played for 7 months due to a knee injury, and V. Smicer, who had been out of action for several weeks. According to K. Bruckner, he promises to rely on players from the team that reached the semifinals of the European Championship two years ago.
"This team was created keeping in mind the 2004 European Championship and the upcoming 2006 World Championship," - said K. Bruckner at a press conference - "Koller is recovering more and more, so I have no doubts about his participation in the tournament. As for Smicer, doctors give quite strong guarantees that everything will be fine with him. If not, Libor Sionko from "Austria" or Rudolf Skacel from "Hearts" are ready to take his place."
The Czech national team will start training together on Saturday in Seefeld, Austria, and will later play three friendly matches - on May 26th against Saudi Arabia, four days later against Costa Rica, and on June 3rd against Trinidad and Tobago. The Czechs, who are ranked second in the FIFA World National Teams rankings, will face the USA, Ghana, and Italy in Group E of the championship.
Czech national team
Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea/England), Jaromir Blazek (Sparta), Antonin Kinsky (Saturn/Russia)
Defenders: Zdenek Grygera (Ajax/Netherlands), Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan/Italy), Martin Jiranek (Spartak Moscow/Russia), Pavel Mares (Zenit/Russia), Radoslav Kovac (Spartak Moscow/Russia), David Rozehnal (Paris Saint-Germain/France), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina/Italy)
Midfielders: Tomas Galasek (Ajax/Netherlands), David Jarolim (Hamburg/Germany), Pavel Nedved (Juventus/Italy), Karel Poborsky (Ceske Budejovice), Jan Polak (Nurnberg/Germany), Jaroslav Plasil (Monaco/France), Tomas Rosicky (Borussia/Germany), Vladimir Smicer (Bordeaux/France)
Forwards: Milan Baros (Aston Villa/England), Marek Heinz (Galatasaray/Turkey), Jan Koller (Borussia/Germany), Vratislav Lokvenc (Salzburg/Austria), Jiri Stajner (Hannover/Germany).
