© EuroFootball.com
"As the Czech team's doctor said on Tuesday, Czech national team striker "giant" Jan Koller pulled his muscles during the match against the USA and probably won't have time to recover before the quarterfinals. After it was revealed that the player's injury is not as serious as expected, he hoped to train on Friday, but the team doctor Jiri Foucek had a more pessimistic outlook.
"His rehabilitation could last from 10 days to six weeks," J. Foucekas told journalists. "We hope he will be able to play in the quarterfinals, but first we need to successfully finish the group stage matches."
33-year-old J. Koller scored the first goal for the team with a header in the E group match against the United States, which Czech Republic easily won 3-0, but immediately after the break he suffered an injury and was substituted.
"When I first felt the pain, I thought my championship was over, but the tests showed that nothing was torn, and I am very happy about that. I don't know if I will be able to recover in time for the next match, but after three or four days I should be able to train again," J. Koller said.
Czech national team fans should also be worried about the health of another striker, Milan Baroš. The player, who suffered an injury in a friendly match against Trinidad and Tobago on June 3, missed the first Czech match and tried to train with painkillers, but could only do it for about half an hour.
"It was not bad for a while, but then I had to stop. When you move faster, the pain starts. I hoped it would get better, but the pain returned. I will have to wait further," M. Baroš said.
The Czechs will play against the Ghana team on June 17 and will face the Italy national team, which has also been in good form recently, on June 22."
