Czech Republic leave out Mareček and Schick
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
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Lukáš Mareček and Patrik Schick have been excluded from Pavel Vrba's final Czech Republic squad for UEFA EURO 2016 despite the coach being "pleasantly surprised" by the pair.
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Czech Republic squad for UEFA EURO 2016
Goalkeepers: Petr Čech (Arsenal), Tomáš Vaclík (Basel), Tomáš Koubek (Slovan Liberec).
Defenders: Theodor Gebre Selassie (Werder Bremen), Roman Hubník (Viktoria Plzeň), Pavel Kadeřábek (Hoffenheim), Michal Kadlec (Fenerbahçe), David Limberský (Viktoria Plzeň), Daniel Pudil (Sheffield Wednesday), Marek Suchý (Basel), Tomáš Sivok (Bursaspor).
Midfielders: Vladimír Darida (Hertha Berlin), Bořek Dočkal (Sparta Praha), Daniel Kolář (Viktoria Plzeň), Ladislav Krejčí (Sparta Praha), David Pavelka (Kasımpaşa), Jaroslav Plašil (Bordeaux), Tomáš Rosický (Arsenal), Jiří Skalák (Brighton), Josef Šural (Sparta Praha).
Forwards: David Lafata (Sparta Praha), Tomáš Necid (Bursaspor), Milan Škoda (Slavia Praha).
Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba has, as expected, omitted midfielder Lukáš Mareček and forward Patrik Schick from his final squad for UEFA EURO 2016. Both players headed to the Czechs' recent training camp in Austria knowing they were likely to end up as reserves.
"They pleasantly surprised me, their standard has improved significantly recently," said Vrba. "They will get their chance in future." Schick is not included despite scoring in the recently friendly against Malta. "It is my decision," added Vrba. "I have chosen the forwards who were with us during the qualifying campaign."
While Petr Čech, Tomáš Rosický, Jaroslav Plašil, Michal Kadlec and Tomáš Sivok all have upwards of 50 caps, the rest of the squad is largely made up of younger players.
Czech Republic's Group D fixtures
13/06: Spain v Czech Republic (Toulouse)
17/06: Czech Republic v Croatia (St-Etienne)
21/06: Czech Republic v Turkey (Lens)