Coufal’s health? Desperate to play against Poland, now sidelined by West Ham

The Czech national team will play the opening match of the European Championship qualification on Friday. Vladimír Coufal, who spent the beginning of March on sick leave, is expected to take part in the matches against Poland and Moldova.

Coufal has been plagued by injuries since last season, when his demanding schedule cost him, among other things, a World Cup barrier in Qatar. Since then, he has not returned to the form he boasted in his first season after transferring from Slavia.

And although the whole of West Ham have struggled since the start of the calendar year, Coufal has been enjoying his best individual period since the summer. He was flying up and down, which the fans loved. But in the home game against Nottingham (4: 0), he was substituted at half-time.

“He had a problem with his foot or his heel. He trained, played, but then the pain could not be stopped. When he got into the position of a treated player, everything was directed towards the match with Poland,” said Czech national team manager Tomáš Pešír in Thursday’s studio of ČT Sport.

Coufal’s omission from West Ham’s lineup has had an impact. Although the Hammers went past mediocre Larnaca in the Conference League, they suffered a disgraceful 0:4 debacle at home to Brighton and only drew 1:1 with Aston Villa.

David Moyes’ charges are already in the relegation zone, so they have a lot of catching up to do in April. Probably even with Coufal coming back from the national break. He is already looking forward to the reunion.

“He really wants to come and play, he’s giving it his all. He is training individually, but today’s information is very optimistic and we can count on him a lot,” continued Pešír in Thursday’s studio.

The Czechs will challenge Poland at home to open the Euro qualifiers, then travel to Moldova. To participate in the tournament, they need to finish among the top two in the five-team group. They will be joined by Albania and the Faroe Islands.

And Coufal has the motivation taken care of. He was not with the team at the unsuccessful barrage with Sweden for the World Cup, and he has good memories of the last Euro. As a right back, he led the way in the summer of 2021 to the quarter-finals.

“Now he’s shut out West Ham, not that he’s shut them out. Rather, he knew he was not useful to the club at that moment,” added Peshir.

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