Marksman Schick ready to fire up the Czechs

PRAGUE : Czech Republic forward Patrik Schick's goalscoring prowess at Euro 2020, capped by his stunning strike from near the halfway line against Scotland, will be sorely needed once again if the country are to make a mark at this year's tournament.

Fresh from winning the Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen, Schick seems to have shaken off the injury woes that hampered him over the past year and has played an important role for the Europa League finalists since his return.

The Czechs, who face Portugal, Georgia and Turkey in Group F at Euro 2024, qualified for the tournament in Germany after an underwhelming campaign that led to manager Jaroslav Silvhay's resignation after a string of poor performances.

Schick's absence from several qualifiers played a role as it exposed a toothless attack without the Sparta Prague product whose effort from 45 metres against the Scots was the furthest distance from which a goal has been scored at any Euros.

Following that tournament, where he finished joint top scorer, Schick struggled with injury and he missed the better part of the past year, returning around mid-season in this campaign with a number of important goals for the German champions.

Schick notched up the equaliser away to Qarabag in the Europa League last 16 in added time and bagged two more goals after the 90th minute in the return that sent Leverkusen into the last eight.

Those performances were a welcome relief for the Czechs and showed that Schick, who has 18 goals in 37 internationals, was past the abductor problems that required surgery and now stands ready to fire his country out of the group stage.

The 28-year-old has scored several goals off the bench since his return but for the Czechs to reach the knockout stage