West Ham’s midfield dynamo Tomas Soucek and full-back Vladimir Coufal have secured spots in the Czech Republic’s preliminary squad for the upcoming European Championships in Germany.
Head coach Ivan Hasek has entrusted the captaincy to Soucek, the 29-year-old midfielder boasting 68 international caps.
Coufal, who faced a setback in November when he was sent home for a nightclub incident, has redeemed himself and earned his place back in the squad. The 31-year-old was notably absent from the Czech team for their friendlies in March.
Joining them are three players from Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga and German Cup-winning squad: striker Patrik Schick, who shared the top scorer title at Euro 2020, forward Adam Hlozek, and goalkeeper Matej Kovar.
The Czech Republic reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2020, eventually bowing out to Denmark after progressing from a group that included England, Scotland, and Serbia.
In this year’s tournament, they kick off their campaign against Portugal on June 18 in Leipzig, followed by clashes with Group D rivals Georgia and Turkey in Hamburg.
Czech Republic Squad:
Goalkeepers:
Jindrich Stanek (Slavia Prague), Matej Kovar (Bayer Leverkusen), Vitezslav Jaros (Sturm Graz)
Defenders:
Ladislav Krejci (Sparta Prague), Martin Vitik (Sparta Prague), Robin Hranac (Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Vlcek (Slavia Prague), Vladimir Coufal (West Ham), David Doudera (Slavia Prague), David Jurasek (Hoffenheim), Tomas Holes (Slavia Prague), David Zima (Slavia Prague)
Midfielders:
Tomas Soucek (West Ham), Antonin Barak (Fiorentina), Michal Sadilek (Twente), Lukas Provod (Slavia Prague), Pavel Sulc (Viktoria Plzen), Matej Jurasek (Slavia Prague), Vaclav Cerny (VfL Wolfsburg), Lukas Cerv (Viktoria Plzen), Ondrej Lingr (Feyenoord)
Forwards:
Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen), Adam Hlozek (Bayer Leverkusen), Mojmir Chytil (Slavia Prague), Tomas Chory (Viktoria Plzen), Jan Kuchta (Sparta Prague)
