Defender Ondřej Kúdela from Persija Jakarta is also in the Czech national football team’s nomination for the last two Group A games of the League of Nations against Portugal and Switzerland in September. Main striker Patrik Schick, who missed the last three matches due to injury, returned to the national team. So far Coach Jaroslav Šilhavý has called up 20 players, no complete newcomers in the nomination. The coach will add three additional players to the team.
Śilhavé’s wards will meet for the first time since the start of the club’s new season. First, on September 24, they will meet Portugal at Eden in Prague, and three days later they will show up in Switzerland. After four out of six group matches, the Czech team is in third place, one point ahead of Switzerland. The worst team in the table will be relegated to level B in the Nations League.
Schick has not played for the national team since last October. In addition to the author of five goals at last year’s Euro, midfielders Petr Ševčík and Antonín Barák, who recently left for Fiorentina, winger Jakub Jankto, right back or midfielder Lukáš Masopust and goalkeeper Jiří Pavlenka will also return from at the June meeting. The Bremen goalkeeper last played for the national team in June in preparation for the European Championship.
“We are glad that they are all back. Players like Patrik Schick or Antonín Barák are of course very important players, their experience will only benefit the team,” Šilhavý said at the press conference. “Petr Ševčík is sick, but it’s not serious. We talked to him, he should be okay now,” added the coach.
On the other hand, due to injuries, long-term defenders Jan Bořil, David Hovorka, Ondřej Čelůstka, Tomáš Kalas and Tomáš Petrášek, defensive all-rounder Ladislav Krejčí Jr. are still missing. and forward Matěj Vydra. Among the replacements is defensive all-rounder Tomáš Holeš, who is currently suffering from health problems, but Šilhavý could also call him up. Another defensive player, Michal Sadílek, is in a similar situation.
Thirty-five-year-old Kúdela last played for the national team in March. He then served a ten-match ban for allegedly racially abusing an opponent in a Europa League game in Glasgow against Rangers. At the June meeting, he was also called to the national team, but only remained on the bench. In the summer, he headed from Slavia to the Indonesian league.
“We are quite strict with the central defenders, with the complications with Tomáš Holeš. We know Ondra very well. Even though he has lost a little bit of our eyes, we watch him on video. He plays all the matches. Although t we can argue the quality of the competition, he has shown in the past that he has experience and he has quality. That’s why we called him,” said Šilhavý.
Several players who have been in excellent form at the start of the season have not yet been nominated. Jan Sýkora from Pilsen along with Adam Vlkanova or the top scorer of the league season, striker Stanislav Tecl, are only among the substitutes. The Spartan Jan Kuchta, who recently served a five-match disciplinary penalty, was given priority in attack, and Adam Hložek, who was not good after his move to Leverkusen, was also present.
“Kuchta showed in the last meeting that he can be a very valid player, we hope for that. Standa Tecl is inclined. He was called once, did not score goals, then was not called again. Incomplete the nomination, there are still three vacancies. Standa can be nominated for one of them. In addition, Adam Hložek can also play from the side, so we will only have two attackers,” said Šilhavý.
He also included Jankta in the nomination, who is not yet in ideal form after going to Sparta last summer. “Jankto has been with us since the beginning. I agree that he is not in dazzling form. Whenever he was here, we could count on him and he played well. That’s why he was nominated,” said Šilhavý. “Most of the players on the roster have something behind them. We play a lot. We will have room for some tests at the November meeting, when there will be two preliminary matches,” added Šilhavý.