The Albany Gazette - Leverkusen striker Schick to lead Czech attack at World Cup

The Czech Republic face Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A in only their second World Cup appearance since becoming an independent country after a 1993 split with Slovakia.

At the 2006 World Cup the Czechs bowed out after the group stage with a team featuring Petr Cech, Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky and Milan Baros.

Czech coach Miroslav Koubek said earlier Group A was "extremely tough", voicing concerns about the climate especially in Mexico where the Czechs will play two games.

"Our goal is to reach the play-offs. That would be a success," added Koubek, who is 74.

The 30-year-old injury-prone Schick scored 16 goals in 28 German Bundesliga games last season.

In the national team, for which he has scored 25 times in 52 games, he made a mark particularly as the top scorer of Euro 2020 with five goals alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Koubek also called up two players from teams relegated from the Premier League -- Wolverhampton defender Ladislav Krejci and West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek.

But he left out in-form Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who helped Spurs narrowly escape relegation.

Krejci replaced Soucek as the Czech Republic captain this year after Soucek had fallen out of favour with fans following a fumbled attempt to apologise for a lacklustre qualifying campaign including a loss to the Faroe Islands.

The Czechs clinched the World Cup berth after edging both Ireland and Denmark on penalties in the March qualifying play-offs.

The playmaking duty at the World Cup will largely rest on Lyon midfielder Pavel Sulc with 11 goals in Ligue 1 last season.

Schick, Soucek, Sulc and several others sat out a friendly in which the Czechs beat Kosovo 2-1 in Prague on Sunday.

Koubek called up 17-year-old Sparta Prague midfielder Hugo Sochurek and three other players who made their national team debut against Kosovo.

Hoffenheim winger Adam Hlozek, who scored the match winner against Kosovo, is coming back from injuries that only allowed him to play 37 minutes in the Bundesliga last season.

Czech Republic squad:

Goalkeepers: Lukas Hornicek (Braga/POR), Matej Kovar (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Jindrich Stanek (Slavia Prague)

Defenders: Stepan Chaloupek (Slavia Prague), Vladimir Coufal (Hoffenheim/GER), David Doudera (Slavia Prague), Tomas Holes (Slavia Prague), Robin Hranac (Hoffenheim/GER), David Jurasek (Slavia Prague), Ladislav Krejci (Wolves/ENG), Jaroslav Zeleny (Sparta Prague), David Zima (Slavia Prague)

Midfielders: Lukas Cerv (Viktoria Plzen), Vladimir Darida (Hradec Kralove), Lukas Provod (Slavia Prague), Michal Sadilek (Slavia Prague), Hugo Sochurek (Sparta Prague), Alexandr Sojka (Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Soucek (West Ham/ENG), Pavel Sulc (Lyon/FRA), Denis Visinsky (Viktoria Plzen)

Forwards: Tomas Chory (Slavia Prague), Mojmir Chytil (Slavia Prague), Adam Hlozek (Hoffenheim/GER), Jan Kuchta (Sparta Prague), Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen/GER)

(D.Sanchez--TAG)