Czech Republic pick Jarolim to coach national team

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic have hired Karel Jarolim as their new coach to help steer them through the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, the country's FA said on Friday. Jarolim, 59, was a Czechoslovakia international and played for three years at Rouen in France in the late 1980s. He has had two decades of coaching experience mostly with Czech and Slovak clubs as well as teams in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, winning several trophies. He joins the national team from Czech top division team Mlada Boleslav. Jarolim replaces Pavel Vrba who left to join Russia's Anzhi Makhachkala after the Czech Repoublic finished bottom of Group D with one point form three matches at Euro 2016. "The first step will be to build a team that can try to qualify for the 2018 World Cup," Czech FA chief Miroslav Pelta said in a statement referring to the tournament in Russia. The Czechs have lost talismanic goalkeeper Petr Cech, who retired from international football after the Euro 2016. There is also a question mark over the future of captain Tomas Rosicky, who has suffered a string of injuries in recent years including at the Euros. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Ken Ferris)