Vladimir Smicer's World Cup hopes have been dashed.
Vladimir Smicer's World Cup hopes have been dashed, with Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner deciding to rule out the Bordeaux man.Former Liverpool midfielder Smicer has been battling to overcome a thigh injury he picked up in February, but he suffered a setback in training last week
Bruckner, Smicer and the country's medical team held a meeting on Thursday with the outcome being that the midfielder will not make the finals.
"He was never fully fit," Czech media officer Lukas Tucek told fifaworldcup.com. "Mr Bruckner knew that he was not 100 percent fit but all the medical treatment and tests gave us hope that Mr Smicer would be fit for the World Cup."
Bruckner has called up Libor Sionko, who recently signed for Rangers, as Smicer's replacement, while Under-21 international captain Tomas Sivok has been put on standby-by due to concerns over Tomas Galasek's fitness.
