Czechs to face Scotland without goalkeeper Cech

Posted Tuesday, August 23, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Injured goalkeeper Peter Cech will miss the Czech Republic’s 2012 European Championship qualifiers next month.

Cech was ruled out for three to four weeks after injuring a knee ligament in training with Chelsea last week.

Coach Michal Bilek called three ‘keepers on Tuesday to his 22-man squad for the Sept. 3 match at Scotland. Two of them are newcomers—Jan Lastuvka and Ales Hruska—plus Jaroslav Drobny of Hamburg, who has played four internationals.

Captain Tomas Rosicky, who missed Arsenal’s loss to Liverpool in the English Premier League last weekend due to a thigh problem, is expected to be fit.

The Czechs are second in Group I with nine points, six behind Spain. A victory would boost their chances of advancing to the playoffs.

Scotland has four points.

Czech Republic:

Goalkeepers: Jaroslav Drobny (Hamburg), Ales Hruska (Pribram), Jan Lastuvka (Dnipropetrovsk).

Defenders: Roman Hubnik (Hertha Berlin), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), Zdenek Pospech (Mainz), Daniel Pudil (Genk), Jan Rajnoch (Ankaragucu), Tomas Sivok (Besiktas), Gebre Selassie (Liberec).

Midfielders: Tomas Hubschman (Shakhtar Donetsk), Petr Jiracek (Plzen), Daniel Kolar (Plzen), Milan Petrzela (Plzen), Vaclav Pilar (Plzen), Jaroslav Plasil (Bordeaux), Jan Rezek (Anarthosis Famagusta), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal), Kamil Vacek (Sparta Prague).