June 15, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1427

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WESTERBURG, June 14: Czech Republic striker Milan Baros will miss Saturday's Group E game against Ghana and there are fears he may not play at the World Cup, doctors said on Wednesday.

“He will not play on Saturday,” team doctor Petr Krejci told reporters, referring to the 24-year-old forward who has been struggling with a foot injury sustained in a June 3 friendly.

Baros's continued absence means coach Karel Brueckner's options up front are very limited with fellow striker Jan Koller already ruled out of the group games after straining his hamstring in Monday's 3-0 win over the United States.

Krejci cast doubt over Baros's participation in the tournament, saying Koller was more likely to recover sooner.

“We are not able to say whether he (Baros) will be able to play here in Germany,” Krejci said.

“The prognosis is better (for Koller),” he added. “Koller could play in the last 16 game.”

Doctors had previously suggested Koller was more likely to be fit only for the quarter-final and an earlier return of the country's top goalscorer would be a boost for the team.

Koller himself also said the knock-out stages were a realistic target for his return.

“I could make the last 16, but it's up to my team to qualify,” Koller said.

Doctors seem at a loss to explain Baros's injury and said a scan on Tuesday had shown he had fluid in his foot that they had previously not seen.

“Why this is, we don't know,” Krejci said.

He said the team had brought in a specialist doctor from Cologne to assist with his recovery.

Baros, the top scorer in Euro 2004 where the Czechs reached the semi-finals, has missed most training sessions and even painkillers have not enabled him to finish their workouts. The only proper training he has been able to do is cycling.

The team are also without forward Vladimir Smicer, who pulled out of the squad through injury before the tournament.

Coach Brueckner insists there is enough strength in his squad to cope with the absence of three key forwards.

The pressure will be on the midfield to perform. Boasting the likes of Tomas Rosicky, who scored twice on Monday, as well as the talented Pavel Nedved, coping without first-choice strikers may not be such an impossible task.—Reuters