Czech Football Team Loses Seventh Player Ahead of Nations League Group Stage

The Czech national football team has lost yet another player just before the start of the Nations League group stage. Slavia Prague defender David Jurásek has been ruled out with an injury, marking the seventh change to Spanish coach Luis Denia's squad since the training camp began.

With Jurásek sidelined, the coaching staff no longer has a single originally called-up player for the left-back position. According to assistant coach Radek Bejbl, the team plans to play with a back four, so losing two specialists on that flank at once poses a serious problem.

Who Could Replace the Injured Players

The left-back spot is now up for grabs between newcomer Jiří Sláma of Jablonec and recently called-up Ondřej Zmrzlý, who has just two caps to his name so far — the most recent coming in October 2024 against Ukraine in the Nations League. Zmrzlý has played for Poland's Górnik Zabrze since February, initially on loan from Slavia before the clubs agreed on a permanent transfer over the summer. This season he has featured in 12 matches, four of them as a starter.

The coaching staff is also weighing alternative options, such as shifting defender Ladislav Krejčí to the left flank or repositioning another defender. Midfielder Michal Sadílek has previously been tried in that role as well.

Who Else Will Miss the Camp

As early as Monday, the first day of the training camp, coach Denia was forced to cross six players off his original squad list. Five of them come from Slavia — Jurásek, Lukáš Provod, Tomáš Chorý, David Zima and Tomáš Vlček. Plzeň's Denis Višinský also missed the camp due to health issues.

In the elite division group of the Nations League, the Czech team will play four matches during this international break: they face Croatia on Saturday, host England on Tuesday, September 29, travel to Spain on Saturday, October 3, and head to Wembley for a rematch against England on Tuesday, October 6.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz