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Rajtoral, Suchý and Kolář make cut for Czechs
Posted Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by UEFA.com

Czech Republic coach Michal Bílek says he faced three tough decisions before plumping for František Rajtoral, Marek Suchý and Daniel Kolář in his provisional UEFA EURO 2012 squad.

Rajtoral, Suchý and Kolář make cut for Czechs
František Rajtoral has made the cut for the Czech Republic

Czech Republic coach Michal Bílek has announced his 24-man provisional squad for UEFA EURO 2012.

The Czechs have two friendlies – against Israel on 26 May and Hungary on 1 June – before heading to the finals, with their definitive squad to be confirmed on 29 May. Bílek does not expect any changes before the tournament, though still has to resolve the goalkeeping situation. "We have four goalkeepers in the squad now," he said. "Petr Čech will be playing in the final of the Champions League and will join the team later.

"Jaroslav Drobný has problems with an injury, so we are taking Tomáš Grigar to be certain of having two fit keepers in training. But if fit, the three goalkeepers we will include are Čech, Drobný and [Jan] Laštůvka. There were three pairs of players I hesitated over. It was Zdeněk Pospěch or František Rajtoral, Marek Suchý or Jan Rajnoch and Daniel Kolář or Jiří Štajner. It was not easy to decide.

"Rajtoral did a very good job in Plzeň, he is a modern right-back and we preferred him. Suchý was with us at the beginning of the qualification campaign, his performances significantly improved recently and that is why we preferred him. Lastly, our first choice to replace Tomáš Rosický if he cannot play is Kolář."

The Czechs' tournament begins against Russia in Wroclaw on 8 June, with Greece to come four days later and co-hosts Poland their opponents on 16 June.

Provisional squad

Goalkeepers: Petr Čech (Chelsea FC), Jan Laštůvka (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), Jaroslav Drobný (Hamburger SV), Tomáš Grigar (FK Teplice).

Defenders: Roman Hubník (Hertha BSC Berlin), Michal Kadlec (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Tomáš Sivok (Beşiktaş JK), Daniel Pudil (AC Cesena), David Limberský (FC Viktoria Plzeň), František Rajtoral (FC Viktoria Plzeň), Theo Gebre Selassie (FC Slovan Liberec), Marek Suchý (FC Spartak Moskva).

Midfielders: Tomáš Rosický (Arsenal FC), Petr Jiráček (VfL Wolfsburg), Daniel Kolář (FC Viktoria Plzeň), Václav Pilař (FC Viktoria Plzeň), Jan Rezek (Anorthosis Famagusta FC), Jaroslav Plašil (FC Girondins de Bordeaux), Milan Petržela (FC Viktoria Plzeň), Tomáš Hübschman (FC Shakhtar Donetsk).

Forwards: Milan Baroš (Galatasaray AŞ), Tomáš Pekhart (1. FC Nürnberg), David Lafata (FK Jablonec), Tomáš Necid (PFC CSKA Moskva).

Standings
    Rank Team W/D/L Pts

    Cities & Stadiums

    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia