Smicer Out!

Smicer rules himself out of the World Cup!

From PragueTV:

After meeting with team doctors today, Vladimir Smicer has decided that he won’t be fit in time for the World Cup and says he won’t travel to Germany. His replacement will almost certainly be Libor Sionko though for the time being no official change will be made to the Czech squad.

“I sat down with the doctors this morning and reached this decision,” the 33-year-old told reporters. “I can’t allow the tension for the coach, my team-mates or myself to continue. It’s 10 days until the first game and I can’t even train.”

Smicer informed his team-mates of his decision during lunch. The Bordeaux midfielder described the moment as the saddest of his career. “It was terrible after we lost to Greece in the European Championship, but crying in front of anyone over football, that’s never happened to me before,” he said.

Separately, Karel Bruckner today called Sparta Praha defender/defensive midfielder Tomas Sivok up to the Czech squad, as extra cover in case of further injuries.