Czech Republic playmaker and captain Tomas Rosicky's chances of playing in Thursday's Euro 2012 quarter-final against Portugal are virtually nil according to team manager Vladimir Smicer.
Smicer, who played alongside Rosicky in the flair-filled Czech side that reached the Euro 2004 semi-finals, said the Arsenal star has not trained properly for over a week as he tries to recover from an inflamed Achilles tendon.
"Will he be able to play from the start? I don't think so," said Smicer.
"He hasn't trained for eight days, only doing some work on a bike.
"In order for him to play in such a tough match, he should at the very least have had three full training sessions in order to be 100% ready," he told agency CTK.
Rosicky, whose career has been plagued by injuries and had been a doubt for the tournament after suffering a calf injury in Arsenal's last Premier League match of the season, has rejoined his team-mates in Wroclaw, Poland, though, after undergoing treatment in Prague since Sunday.
"He will leave with the squad tomorrow (Wednesday) for Warsaw," said Czech spokesman Jaroslav Kolar.
"The decision as to whether he plays in the quarter-final will be taken after the official training session on Wednesday evening (1600GMT)," he added.
Source: AFP
