Striker Sverkos called up by Czechs

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner has included uncapped striker Vaclav Sverkos in his preliminary European Championship squad.

Pavel Nedved, however, will not make a return to the national team.

Bruckner said he had spoken to the Juventus midfielder -- who retired from international football after the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany -- about coming back for Euros, but that Nedved told him no.

Sverkos could be used as a backup to first-choice strikers Jan Koller and Milan Baros, who have both shown poor form lately but were included in Bruckner's 23-man squad for a May 20-26 training camp in Austria.

Bruckner said he will name his final squad after the camp. "I can't rule out some changes. I think we can expect them," he said.

Each team has to submit its final line-up for the June 7-29 tournament in Austria and Switzerland to UEFA by May 28.

Sverkos is the top Czech league's leading scorer this season with 15 goals. He returned to his former club Banik Ostrava last year after four years with Borussia Moenchengladbach in the German Bundesliga.

Radek Sirl was left out of the training camp, as his Zenit St. Petersburg side faces Rangers in the UEFA Cup final in Manchester and Bruckner said he may need time to recover from a right knee problem.

However, he said Sirl will be in the Euro 2008 squad if he is fit enough to play.

The Czechs' Euro campaign suffered a serious blow last week when captain Tomas Rosicky announced he would have to undergo a surgery on his left knee tendon and would not recover in time for the tournament. "I can't conceal that it is a loss for us," Bruckner said. "But that's not an excuse for us. Our aim remains to advance from the group stage."

The Czech Republic open the tournament on June 7 against Switzerland and also face Turkey and Portugal in Group A.

Czech squad:

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jaromir Blazek (Nuremberg), Daniel Zitka (Anderlecht).

Defenders: Zdenek Grygera (Juventus), Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan), Michal Kadlec (Sparta Prague), Radoslav Kovac (Spartak Moscow), Zdenek Pospech (Copenhagen), David Rozehnal (Lazio), Tomas Sivok (Sparta Prague), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina).

Midfielders: Tomas Galasek (Nuremberg), David Jarolim (Hamburg), Marek Matejovsky (Reading), Jaroslav Plasil (Osasuna), Daniel Pudil (Slavia Prague), Jan Polak (Anderlecht), Libor Sionko (Copenhagen), Stanisla Vlcek (Anderlecht).

Strikers: Milan Baros (Portsmouth), Martin Fenin (Frankfurt), Jan Koller (Nuremberg), Vaclav Sverkos (Banik Ostrava).

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