Few shocks in Czech squad

There were few surprises as Czech Republic boss Karel Bruckner named his 23-man squad for this summer’s World Cup.

All the usual suspects have been selected, including former captain Pavel Nedved, with only four changes made from the party which reached the European Championships semi-finals two years ago.

However, there are injury concerns over Zdenek Grygera, Vladimir Smicer and Vratislav Lokvenc, who could yet be replaced by either Libor Sionko or Rudi Skacel.

“They all proved their quality over a long-term period,” said Bruckner. “The doctors have given Vladimir Smicer guarantees he will be fit, but of course we are ready to replace him in case he is not.

“Also Libor Sionko and Rudolf Skacel are ready. Grygera and Smicer were examined by the doctors on Friday, they are still undergoing treatment.

“We also examined the fitness of Lokvenc – these were the three fitness questions. As regards the sporting form, we had no doubts.”

The squad will arrive in Prague on May 25 and will fly to a training camp in Seefeld, Austria, two days later.

The Czechs have been drawn in a testing World Cup group, where they will play USA, Ghana and Italy.

Czech squad for the 2006 World Cup: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jaromir Blazek (Sparta Prague), Antonin Kinsky; (Ramenskoje), Zdenek Grygera (Ajax), Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan), Martin Jiranek (Spartak Moscow), Radoslav Kovac (Spartak Moscow), Pavel Mares (Zenit St Petersburg), David Rozehnal (Paris St Germain), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina); Tomas Galasek (Ajax), David Jarolim (Hamburg), Pavel Nedved (Juventus), Jaroslav Plasil (Monaco), Karel Poborsky (Ceske Budejovice), Jan Polak (Nurnberg), Tomas Rosicky (Borussia Dortmund), Vladimir Smicer (Bordeaux); Milan Baros (Aston Villa), Marek Heinz (Galatasaray), Jan Koller (Borussia Dortmund), Vratislav Lokvenc (Kaiserslautern), Jiri Stajner (Hannover).