Czech Republic Euro 2016 team profile: Tomas Rosicky remains key man despite injury-plagued season

World Ranking: 30

Best Euros finish: Runners-up in 1996

How they qualified: They beat Netherlands both home and away to dump them out of Euro 2016 and top Group A ahead of Iceland and Turkey. Their only two defeats in qualifying came at Latvia and a disappointing 2-0 home loss to Turkey.

Fixtures: Group D - Spain (13 June), Croatia (17 June), Turkey (21 June)

Squad -

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Tomas Vaclik, Tomas Koubek

Defenders: Theodor Gebre Selassie, Pavel Kaderabek, David Limbersky, Marek Suchy, Michal Kadleck, Tomas Sivok, Roman Hubnik, Daniel Pudil

Midfielders: Borek Dockal, Jiri Skalak, Vladimir Darida, Daniel Kolar, Ladislav Krejci, Josef Sural, David Pavelka, Jaroslav Plasil, Tomas Rosicky

Forwards: Milan Skoda, Tomas Necid, David Lafata

Expectations: Pavel Vrba's side knocked out Netherlands in an impressive qualifying campaign but having been drawn in a very tough group - with Spain, Croatia and Turkey - their hopes of replicating that success in the French tournament looks slim. Arsenal keeper Petr Cech and out-of-favour Tomas Rosicky are the main reasons to believe in them but should they manage to get through the last 16 it could be considered a creditable performance.

Manager: Pavel Vrba, a former centre-back, made his name in his country after a very successful spell at FC Viktoria Plzeň. He took over the modest provincial club in 2008 and, as well as winning several domestic crowns, he led them to the Champions League for the first time in 2011-2012.

The 52-year-old subsequently won the Czech Coach of the Year five consecutive times from 2010 to 2014 before taking over the national team in January 2014. He has since led them to the Euro 2016 with a 4-2-3-1 offensive formation.

Prediction: Group Stage – The recent 2-1 defeat in a friendly game against South Korea proved that the Czech Republic are not near the level they used to be when former Ballon D'or Pavel Nedved led them along the likes of promising talents like Cech and Rosicky. The fact that the latter, at 35, remains a key player following a nightmare injury campaign at Arsenal does not offer much encouragement to be optimistic about their hopes in beating Spain, Croatia or even Turkey to make the last 16.