Coufal misses Czech training session before England match

On Saturday, the Czech national football team lost 1:2 to Croatia in their opening home match of the Nations League group stage, and in the absence of Ladislav Krejčí, the captain's armband was worn by experienced right-back Vladimír Coufal. On Monday afternoon, Coufal failed to appear even for the start of training ahead of Tuesday's match against England, and the reason for his absence has not yet been explained: head coach Santi Denia held his press conference about 45 minutes earlier and made no mention of it.

Who could replace Coufal on the right flank

Whether Coufal will appear on Tuesday against England (kick-off at 20:45) remains unknown. If not, coach Denia has a fairly limited and less-than-ideal choice for the right-back position: centre-backs Štěpán Chaloupek, Robin Hranáč or Martin Vitík, the more attack-minded Michal Sáček and Matěj Radosta, wing options Ondřej Zmrzlík or Jiří Sláma — or possibly some unexpected solution.

Whoever takes the field, the national team's goal is to build on the success of the second half against Croatia, which was considerably more active, creative and generally better than the first. “I’d like to see hunger and determination — that’s what matters most right now. We need to improve our play, and this is a great opportunity to grow. The Nations League is a tough competition. As Ladislav Krejčí said, it’s a wonderful chance to show how much we’ve progressed. And on top of that, we’ll be playing at home,” Denia said ahead of this pair of matches against World Cup bronze medallists Croatia and two-time reigning European Championship finalists England.

Fan festival at Fortuna Arena

The Football Association of the Czech Republic is organising a fan festival at Fortuna Arena, the venue for both Nations League matches — against Croatia (26 September) and England (29 September). It will run for all four days, from 26 to 29 September, featuring football activities, tournaments, autograph sessions, competitions for tickets and other prizes, as well as events with partners ČSOB, Fortuna and Ford. Elite Czech darts player Karel Sedláček will also present his own programme.

England: favourites without perfect form

“They have individually strong players, an excellent coach in Thomas Tuchel, and their whole association works brilliantly. We’re studying our opponent closely, but we’re focused above all on our own development. The Nations League schedule is packed, but it also gives us room to grow and generally to get better,” Denia continued.

Both teams go into the second match without points. The Czechs lost 1:2 to Croatia, while England failed to hold onto a home lead against Spain and lost 2:3 — with, among other things, striker Harry Kane missing his penalty. Still, the current table shouldn't be taken too seriously: in Prague, England will be huge favourites. “England could have beaten Spain. They pressed hard and squeezed their opponents, and that will be difficult for us too. But I’ll say it again: we’ll focus on our own game. We had our moments against Croatia, and that’s very important for us,” Denia concluded.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz