USA's Arena wary of injured Czechs reports
HAMBURG, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. coach Bruce Arena says he is not sure what to make of reports that several Czech Republic players are injured ahead of their Group E clash on Monday.
'You don't know what any of that means. If you go by the press reports, three or four of their top players are out. On Monday I'd guess we're going to see all of them on the field.
'Until I hear or see otherwise we're preparing to go against all of their best players,' Arena told reporters on Thursday.
Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved limped out of training on Thursday although coach Karel Brueckner played down the injury. Milan Baros missed training with a foot injury on Wednesday.
Midfielders Tomas Rosicky and Tomas Galasek have recovered from leg and knee injuries respectively but midfielder Vladimir Smicer is out of the finals with a torn tendon in his leg.
'You can't believe everything you read in the papers,' Arena told a news conference, flashing a wry smile as he announced that his own squad was fully fit.
HAMBURG, June 8 (Reuters) - U.S. coach Bruce Arena says he is not sure what to make of reports that several Czech Republic players are injured ahead of their Group E clash on Monday.
'You don't know what any of that means. If you go by the press reports, three or four of their top players are out. On Monday I'd guess we're going to see all of them on the field.
'Until I hear or see otherwise we're preparing to go against all of their best players,' Arena told reporters on Thursday.
Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved limped out of training on Thursday although coach Karel Brueckner played down the injury. Milan Baros missed training with a foot injury on Wednesday.
Midfielders Tomas Rosicky and Tomas Galasek have recovered from leg and knee injuries respectively but midfielder Vladimir Smicer is out of the finals with a torn tendon in his leg.
'You can't believe everything you read in the papers,' Arena told a news conference, flashing a wry smile as he announced that his own squad was fully fit.
