Czech captain Rosicky hopeful in fitness battle

By Justin Palmer

WARSAW (Reuters) - Czech Republic captain Tomas Rosicky is hopeful of featuring in his side's Euro 2012 quarter-final with Portugal on Thursday after his Achilles injury showed signs of improvement, the player said on Wednesday.

Playmaker Rosicky missed the Czech's final Group A game against Poland, returning to Prague for treatment before rejoining the squad.

"After training the chance of me starting tomorrow is bigger," Rosicky told a news conference at the National Stadium.

"I have trained today but we will have to see tomorrow if I am able to play. We will decide on how the injury reacts."

The midfielder has been having intensive treatment since injuring his foot in the second group match against Greece. He was replaced by Daniel Kolar in the creative role behind Milan Baros.

Rosicky, sporting a beard along with the rest of the Czech squad, said he and his team mates would continue to grow their facial hair for as long as they remained at the tournament.

"We look scary as a team. Hopefully they (the beards) will get worse and worse," he joked.

Rosicky was also in light-hearted mood when asked, as a Premier League player with Arsenal, to list the attributes of Portugal dangerman and the world's most expensive player Cristiano Ronaldo, once of Manchester United.