A prolific marksman at youth level for the Czech Republic, boasting a record haul of 17 goals for the Under-21s, Tomáš Pekhart had not broken his duck at senior level by the end of the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying campaign, but the tall, powerful young striker remains the heir apparent to the country's all-time top scorer Jan Koller.

• A youth player at SK Slavia Praha, he was signed by English club Tottenham Hotspur FC in 2006 after a glut of goals for the Czech Republic's Under-17 side; he also starred at the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada, reaching the final.

• Unable to break into the Tottenham first team, he was sent on loan to second-tier Southampton FC and spent half a season there, scoring one league goal, before Spurs sent him back to the Czech Republic for a further loan spell at SK Slavia Praha.

• Scored his first 1. Liga goals in back-to-back wins against FK Jablonec and FK Zlín in March 2009; joined Jablonec the following season and impressed sufficiently to win his first senior cap in a May 2010 friendly versus Turkey.

• Registered 11 goals for Jablonec in the first half of the 2010/11 campaign, which earned him a mid-season loan transfer to AC Sparta Praha, for whom he added seven further strikes to finish second in the 1. Liga scoring charts – one behind his erstwhile Jablonec strike partner David Lafata.

• Moved to German Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg in July 2011 shortly after helping his country to the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Denmark with a late winning goal against England; featured in each of the Czechs' last five UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers, starting the two play-off matches against Montenegro as the team's lone striker.