Changed line-up for the Czechs

That means a start, probably as a lone striker, for 32-year-old Lokvenc, who has been in and around the team for more than 10 years.

Czech coach Karel Brueckner says he is unconcerned about the unexpected change of plans but will also be looking for plenty of attacking support from Tomas Rosicky, who scored twice on Monday, Pavel Nedved and Jaroslav Plasil.

“We will not have the ideal lineup but there is strength in this squad,” Brueckner said.

Ghana, though, are not ruling themselves out just yet despite marking their World Cup debut with a 0-2 loss to Italy.

If they are to progress in their first World Cup finals they will have to find much more in attack than they showed in their opener.

The four-times African champions held their own in terms of possession but they barely mustered a worthwhile effort on goal.

Coach Ratomir Dujkovic pointed to the eight goals they scored in three warm-up games against South Korea, Jamaica and Turkey.

That statistic is unlikely to ruffle a Czech defence who have kept four successive clean sheets in competitive matches and boast one of the tournament’s top goalkeepers in Petr Cech.

–Mitch Phillips