Rosicky to miss World Cup qualifiers

Tomas Rosicky has been with the Czech national team since 2000.

Sergey Ponomarev/AP

PRAGUE (AP) -- Injured captain Tomas Rosicky will miss the Czech Republic's World Cup qualifying games against Malta and Bulgaria this month.

Rosicky sustained an Achilles tendon injury in the 2-1 win over Greece on June 12 at the European Championship and has not played for his Arsenal side since.

He still has not fully resumed training, Czech coach Michal Bilek said on Tuesday.

Rosicky's usual replacement, Daniel Kolar, and first-choice attacking midfielder Vaclav Pilar are also injured and not available for the Oct. 12 match against Malta in Plzen and four days later against Bulgaria in Prague.

Since striker Milan Baros retired, the Czechs have been struggling upfront and haven't scored in the last four matches. They have one point in World Cup qualifying following a 0-0 draw in Denmark in Group B.

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jaroslav Drobny (Hamburg), Jan Lastuvka (Dnipropetrovsk)

Defenders: Theodor Gebre Selassie (Liberec), Roman Hubnik (Hertha Berlin), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), David Limbersky (Viktoria Plzen), Frantisek Rajtoral (Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Sivok (Besiktas), Marek Suchy (Spartak Moscow)

Midfielders: Vladimir Darida (Plzen), Josef Husbauer (Sparta Prague), Tomas Hubschman (Shakhtar Donetsk), Petr Jiracek (Wolfsburg), Milan Petrzela (Augsburg), Jaroslav Plasil (Bordeaux), Jan Rezek (Anorthosis Famagusta)

Forwards: David Lafata (Jablonec), Tomas Pekhart (Nuremberg), Matej Vydra (Watford).

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