The physical West Ham midfielder is nursing a niggle as his Czech Republic side look to qualify from the Euro 2024 Group Stage.
West Ham United midfielder Tomas Soucek is a fitness worry for the Czech Republic ahead of their second Euro 2024 Group Stage match against Georgia on Saturday evening.
The 29-year-old is a key part of Ivan Hasek’s national side, making 70 appearances since earning his first cap in 2016. The Hammers star is also captain of the Czech Republic team and has held that role since 2020.
Soucek played the full 90 minutes in the side’s opening fixture in Germany last week, a 2-1 defeat against Portugal. The Czech Republic took the lead through Lukas Provod before a Portuguese comeback thanks to a Robin Hranac own goal and an injury-time winner from Francisco Conceicao.
Soucek will still believe his side can make it to the knockouts ahead of meetings with Georgia and Turkey but the national side’s boss has admitted that the Hammers man is an injury concern as the tournament progresses.
Assistant coach Jaroslav Kostl, quoted in Eurozpravy, said: “Tomas has had some discomfort in his knee for a long time, yesterday it showed a bit during the match. However, we have a top medical team here, they take care of him.
“I’ve known Tomas for 10 years. So if it wasn’t 100 per cent, he wouldn’t go to the match. On the other hand, if I had to bet on whether he would play, I think he will definitely play. He’s a fighter and he won’t want to let the team down.”
Soucek only missed one Premier League match last season as he racked up an incredible 52 appearances in all competitions. He has also completed 90 minutes in all but one of his country’s international fixtures since September 2022.
The player joined West Ham from Slavia Prague in the summer of 2020 for £19 million following a short-term loan at the London Stadium. He has gone on to make 207 appearances for the Hammers.
Kostl explained that the team trained in Leipzig on Wednesday following the defeat to Portugal on Tuesday before setting off for their base in Hamburg. He confirmed that Soucek was part of a group taking part in ‘regeneration’ work on Wednesday rather than being involved in full training.
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