Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved is carrying a nagging ankle injury which has prevented him from training normally ahead of his team's opening Euro 2000 match with co-hosts Holland on Sunday.

Nedved, who plays for Italian champions Lazio, aggravated the injury in the Czechs' 3-2 defeat by Germany in Nuremburg last Saturday, but coach Jozef Chovanec was hopeful that Nedved would be fit for the match at the Amsterdam Arena on Sunday.

Chovanec already has to make changes to his preferred team as Liverpool player Patrik Berger is suspended for the first two matches of Euro 2000 following his sending off in his team's last qualifier against the Faroe Islands for striking an opponent.

Marek Jankulovski, who has only one senior cap, is the likely deputy for Berger.

Apart from pre-tournament favourites Holland, the Czechs are also matched against world champions France and Denmark in what is widely held to be the toughest group at Euro 2000.