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Striker crisis for Czechs
12/06/2006: In the most exciting day of action from World Cup 2006 there were wins for Australia, the Czech Republic and Italy but the Czechs might have to do without both Jan Koller and Milan Baros for the rest of the competition.
Two late goals from Everton's Tim Cahill put the Socceroos ahead against Japan before John Aloisi made the game safe and 3-1 to the Australians in stoppage time.
It was a deserved victory in Kaiserslautern for the Australians who dominated the second half after Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura had given Japan an interval lead following an error by Middlesborough keeper Mark Schwarzer.
The United States could be heading for an early exit after they were comprehensively outclassed 3-0 by an organised Czech Republic side. Recent Arsenal signing Tomas Rosicky was the star of the show scoring a goal in either half to add to the early header from Jan Koller.
It was not all joy for Koller who could be on his way home after suffering a hamstring injury shortly before half-time which resulted in him being stretchered off.
There was more bad news for the Republic the news Milan Baros could miss the rest of World Cup 2006.
The former Liverpool striker is unable to walk without pain and has missed two weeks of training due to an instep problem.
Czech coach Karel Bruckner wanted to use Baros at some point during the match but the Aston Villa forward could not even take part in the warm-up.
Although Baros has not given up hope of playing in again in the tournament, he refuses to have any pain-killing injections for fears it could ruin his career.
"Of course I am worried I will miss the tournament," said Baros.
"You see all these big games and you want to play in them. This is the first time we have qualified for the World Cup in 16 years and I want to be involved.
"But my health is the most important thing. I do not want to be out for a year just because I have had an injection to try and get me through.
"The problem is with the inside of my foot. It hurts when I move and it is not good.
"I did a bit of training yesterday and, you never know, I might be on the bench on Saturday. If not, I will just be carrying on being a fan instead.
Ghana put up a spirited performance against Italy in the evening game in Hanover only going down to a long-range effort from Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo and an 83-minute breakaway goal from Vincenzo Iaquinta.
So concerned were the Italians that they began taking the ball towards the corner flag to waste time with five minutes to play.
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Comments on: Striker crisis for Czechs
13/06/2006: This is tough for 'The Dark Horses, of the tournament, but from here on the awesome tactical and technical abilities of the other Czechs will be tested. In terms of replacement's I think Lokvenc's abilities will have to be utilised. Lokvenc might not have the stature of a Koller but he is still 6ft 5inches 194lbs. That's a whole lot of size and he can be partnered possibly with Sionko or the secret weapon Marek Heinze. The Czechs have the depth to replace the injured strikers but it will be hard to replace the unique qualities those injured strikers would have brought.
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