Czechs name squad for friendly against Croatia

By foxsports
Published

Besiktas defender Tomas Sivok has returned to the Czech Republic squad for next week's friendly at Croatia.

Sivok, who last played in a 4-2 friendly win over the United States in May, has recovered from knee surgery.

But key striker Milan Baros of Galatasaray remains injured and still is not available, forcing coach Michal Bilek to select forward Jan Rezek from Plzen in the Czech league and 34-year-old veteran Jan Stajner.

Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech have also been included in the 18-man squad for the Feb. 9 match in Pula.

For the Czechs, the game is a warmup for the European Championship qualifier at Spain on March 25 and against Liechtenstein at home four days later.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jan Lastuvka (Dnipropetrovsk)

Defenders: Tomas Hubschman (Shakhtar Donetsk), Roman Hubnik (Hertha Berlin), Mario Holek (Dnipropetrovsk), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), David Limbersky (Plzen), Zdenek Pospech (FC Copenhagen), Jan Rajnoch (Ankaragucu), Tomas Sivok (Besiktas)

Midfielders: Milan Petrzela (Plzen), Jaroslav Plasil (Bordeaux), Jan Polak (Wolfsburg), Daniel Pudil (Genk), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal)

Forwards: Tomas Necid (CSKA Moscow), Jan Rezek (Plzen), Jiri Stajner (Liberec)