Czechs worry over Baros for Russia opener

Veteran Czech striker Milan Baros remained a doubt for the Czech Republic's Friday Euro 2012 opener with Russia after undergoing a scan on his thigh injury on Wednesday, Czech media said.

The 30-year-old - top scorer at Euro 2004 when the Czechs reached the semi-finals - limped off the training pitch with a thigh injury on Tuesday, with doctors fearing he had ruptured it.

However, Baros, whose form has slumped since the heady days of 2004 and has featured as often on the gossip pages than the sports pages, told the medical staff it felt better.

"Milan now feels much better, the acute pain is gone. He said he wanted to train on Thursday," Czech team doctor Petr Novak told the CTK news agency after the scan.

He said the final decision would be made after Thursday's training but added there was a realistic chance the Galatasaray striker, scorer of 41 goals in 89 games for the national team, would be fit for the Russia game.

Runners-up in 1996, the Czechs will play all three Group A games in the southern Polish city of Wroclaw near the Czech border.

After Russia, the Czechs will face Greece - who beat them in the Euro 2004 semi-finals before going on to lift the trophy - on June 12 and co-hosts Poland on June 16.