Sionko to fill in Czech
11/6/2006 10:52
Libor Sionko of Glasgow Rangers has been allowed to replace injured
midfielder Vladimir Smicer on Czech Republic's World Cup roster on Saturday, two
days away from their Group E opener against the United States.
FIFA has
complied with the request from the Football Association of Czech Republic to
replace player No. 7 Smicer, whose World Cup campaign has been finished before
kicking off due to injury.
According to the world governing body of soccer,
member associations are allowed to replace injured or sick players up to
twenty-four hours prior to the team's opening match provided that their medical
condition has been ratified by the FIFA Sports Medical Committee.
Sionko, 29,
made his first international debut in April 1999 when the Czech side facing the
Poles. He has won 17 caps for the national team and scored once.
Smicer,
failing to recover from a hamstring injury, announced his decision of
withdrawing from the tournament late last month after consulted his club doctors
and coach Karel Bruckner of French Ligue 1's Bordeaux, saying that he hadn't
been able to train fully for the World Cup and needs rest to get ready for the
next season.
The 33-year-old has scored 27 goals in 81 matches for the
CzechRepublic and hadn't played since being injured with Bordeaux in
February.
The Czechs face the United States on June 12, before playing Ghana
and Italy.
Xinhua
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