PRAGUE — Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick will lead the Czech Republic attack at the World Cup as spearhead of a 26-man squad announced in Prague.
The Czech Republic face Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A in only their second World Cup appearance since becoming an independent country after a 1993 split with Slovakia.
At the 2006 World Cup the Czechs bowed out after the group stage with a team featuring Petr Cech, Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky and Milan Baros.
Czech coach Miroslav Koubek said earlier Group A was “extremely tough”, voicing concerns about the climate especially in Mexico where the Czechs will play two games.
“Our goal is to reach the play-offs. That would be a success,” added Koubek, who is 74, according to AFP.
The 30-year-old injury-prone Schick scored 16 goals in 28 German Bundesliga games last season.
In the national team, for which he has scored 25 times in 52 games, he made a mark particularly as the top scorer of Euro 2020 with five goals alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Koubek also called up two players from teams relegated from the Premier League — Wolverhampton defender Ladislav Krejci and West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek.
But he left out in-form Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who helped Spurs narrowly escape relegation.
Krejci replaced Soucek as the Czech Republic captain this year after Soucek had fallen out of favour with fans following a fumbled attempt to apologise for a lacklustre qualifying campaign including a loss to the Faroe Islands.
The Czechs clinched the World Cup berth after edging both Ireland and Denmark on penalties in the March qualifying play-offs.
The playmaking duty at the World Cup will largely rest on Lyon midfielder Pavel Sulc with 11 goals in Ligue 1 last season.
Schick, Soucek, Sulc and several others sat out a friendly in which the Czechs beat Kosovo 2-1 in Prague on Sunday.
Koubek called up 17-year-old Sparta Prague midfielder Hugo Sochurek and three other players who made their national team debut against Kosovo.
