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Bořek Dočkal will don the captain’s armband for his country for the first time when the Czech Republic national team takes the field against Slovakia in a UEFA Nations League match on Saturday in Trnava, Slovakia.
The 30-year-old midfielder who has starred while on loan with the Philadelphia Union this season from the Chinese Super League last appeared for his country last October in a 5-0 World Cup qualifier win over San Marino.
Dočkal, who leads the league with 17 assists, received a call-up during the international break in September but was unable to report because of an ankle injury.
New Czech Republic head coach Jaroslav Šilhavý called Dočkal the “most suitable candidate at the moment” in a translated report from iDNES.cz. The coach indicated his captaincy could last beyond the Nations League matches with Slovakia and Ukraine on Tuesday, according to the report.
Šilhavý had this to say about Dočkal in the article:
(via Google Translate): “I know long enough, as a young man, he has shown leadership skills and he was not afraid to show up on the field or outside, where he can always say his point.We designed it with colleagues, and such a council of elders, with whom we consulted, did not have a problem.”
Dočkal has five goals and four assists in 34 caps for his country dating back to his senior debut as a substitute against Turkey on Feb. 6, 2013. Tomorrow’s game will kick off at 9 a.m. eastern time. It will be broadcast on ESPN3 and ESPN News.