Petr Čech

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Petr Čech
Personal information
Full name Petr Čech
Date of birth May 20, 1982 (age 24)
Place of birth    Plzeň, Czech Republic
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Nickname Čechíno, Big Pete
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Chelsea F.C.
Number 1
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1999-2001
2001-2002
2002-2004
2004-		 Blšany
Sparta Prague
Rennes
Chelsea		 27 (0)
27 (0)
70 (0)
82 (0)   
National team2
2002- Czech Republic 44 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 20 March 2007 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 03:47, 6 July 2006 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Petr Čech (help·info) (born 20 May 1982 in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech international footballer who is currently a goalkeeper for Chelsea F.C.

Čech has previously played for Viktoria Plzeň, Chmel Blšany, Sparta Prague, and Rennes, and is considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world.[1][2][3] He was voted into the all-star team at Euro 2004 after helping his country reach the semi-finals,[4] best Goalkeeper in the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League, and was in the FIFPro and Champions League 2005-06 team of the season.

He currently holds three records: a national record of not conceding a goal in 855 competitive minutes and an English Premiership record of not conceding a goal in 1,025 minutes and 25 clean sheets in Chelsea's 2004-05 title-winning campaign. He had also gone 928 minutes unbeaten at Sparta Prague.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] FC Viktoria Plzeň (1989-99)

Čech started out as a midfielder for the youth team, occasionally taking the goalkeeping position in games. When he broke his leg at age 10, he opted to become the team's goalkeeper instead.

[edit] FK Chmel Blsany (1999-2001)

Čech made his senior-level debut as a 17-year-old for FK Chmel Blšany in 1999.

[edit] AC Sparta Praha (2001-02)

Čech really came of age in the 2001/02 campaign following a €700,000 transfer to AC Sparta Praha. The young custodian won a first-team place four matches into the Czech season, and proceeded to set a national record by going 855 minutes without conceding a goal. Just for good measure, he began Sparta's UEFA Champions League campaign by shutting out holders FC Bayern München and was not beaten until Matchday 5.

[edit] Rennes (2002-04)

After just one season at the Letná, Čech joined Stade Rennais FC in July 2002 for a reported fee of €5m. Not one of France’s glamour clubs, the Czech was virtually ever-present as Rennes preserved their Ligue 1 status and reached the Coupe de France semi-finals in 2003. He played all but five of Rennes' games as they finished ninth in the team's 2003-04 Ligue 1 season.

[edit] Chelsea (2004-present)

In January 2004, he agreed a summer move to Chelsea for £7m (€10.3m), signing a five-year contract.

When he arrived at Chelsea, there was uncertainty over whether he would be the first choice goalkeeper as Chelsea already had Carlo Cudicini, who many considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the English League. Cudicini made several mistakes in the 2004 preseason, allowing Čech to become Chelsea's first choice goalkeeper once the season started.

On 5 March 2005 Čech set a new Premiership record of 1025 minutes without letting in a goal. He was finally beaten by Leon McKenzie of Norwich City. He had kept a clean sheet in the league since 12 December 2004 when Thierry Henry scored for Arsenal. Čech was given a special award by the Premier League for the new record, and he was also awarded the Golden Gloves at the end of the 2004-05 season for keeping a record 21 clean sheets. Chelsea retained the Premiership title in 2005-06, with Čech playing in all but two games in the League.

He signed a new contract on 1 February 2006 which will keep him at the club until 2010. Čech underwent minor shoulder surgery on 27 June 2006 to repair a long-standing injury stemming from the previous English Premiership season [5] [6]. Čech returned to action on 27 August 2006 during Chelsea's Premier League match versus Blackburn, keeping a clean sheet [7]. Following his injury against Reading in October, Cech made his comeback in January 2007 against Liverpool. Chelsea lost 2-0, but in Cech's seven games since, he has yet to concede.

[edit] Head injury

On 14 October 2006, Čech and Reading's Stephen Hunt challenged for the ball in the first minute of a league game at the Madejski Stadium, resulting in Čech's head colliding with Hunt's knee and leaving the former concussed. After immediate replacement by Carlo Cudicini (who was also left unconscious during the game after a challenge with Sonko), Čech was taken to Royal Berkshire Hospital's Accident and Emergency unit, and that evening taken to Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary's specialist neuro-surgical unit[8]. Čech then underwent surgery for a depressed fracture of the skull[8][9]. The injury nearly cost Čech his life.[10] As a result of Hunt's challenge, Čech has suffered intense headaches.[11] He was warned by his doctor that returning too early could be fatal.[12] Speaking shortly afterwards, Čech's father claimed his son would be out of football for a year[13].

On 19 October 2006, Čech was transferred from the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford to a hospital close to his home in London [14].

Chelsea boss José Mourinho said "the challenge [was] a disgrace. He is lucky to still be alive",[15] later also criticising the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust[16] and the match referee, Mike Riley[17]. Chelsea said in a later statement: "Chelsea FC has reviewed the video of both incidents. We endorse the post-match comments of José Mourinho regarding the seriousness of these incidents. Chelsea will be writing to the Football Association with our observations."[8]

Reading manager Steve Coppell said "I know 100% for sure there's no intent"[18], while football pundits Alan Hansen[9] and Bob Wilson[19], and media commentators Martin Samuel[20], Clive Tyldesley[21] and Des Kelly[22] have all given their backing to Hunt. However, Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann,[23] manager Arsène Wenger,[24] former West Ham United goalkeeper (and current goalkeeping coach) Luděk Mikloško,[25] Daily Mirror columnist Oliver Holt,[26] football journalist and pundit Gabriele Marcotti[27] (who said there was no malice from Hunt but the challenge was "reckless and dangerous") and Čech's Chelsea team mates Didier Drogba[28] and Carlo Cudicini[29] have all condemned the challenge.

Following hospital treatment, Čech returned home on 24 October 2006, where he continued his rehabilitation, and in the following week he came back to a period of light training. In a note, Chelsea informed that the goalkeeper will be out for three months, a standard medical timescale for the complete recovery of skull fractures[30].

On 27 October 2006, Čech was interviewed on Chelsea TV said that he could not remember the injury itself and that he was grateful for all the support he had received over this period.

Čech made his comeback against Liverpool on 20 January 2007, wearing a rugby style headguard in a 2-0 loss, which he has continued to wear in every game since, as of until 19 March 2007.

[edit] The Rob Hulse incident

On 17 March 2007 Rob Hulse and Čech challenged for the ball in a league game at Stamford Bridge, resulting in a horrific injury. Hulse almost turned in a low Keith Gillespie cross but Čech raced out to smother his effort and in the collision Hulse's ankle appeared to snap beneath him. After a five-minute delay Hulse was carried off on a stretcher and taken to hospital with what was thought to be a double fracture[31].

[edit] Statistics

Club Season Apps. Goals Yellow
Cards		 Red
Cards		 Clean
Sheets
Chelsea 2006-2007** 13 0 1 0 10
Chelsea 2005-2006 34 0 1 0 17
Chelsea 2004-2005 37 0 0 0 21
Rennes 2003-2004 33 0 1 0 12
Rennes 2002-2003 37 0 0 0 12
Sparta Prague 2001-2002 27 0 0 0 17
Blšany 2000-2001 26 0 0 0 7
Blšany 1999-2000 1 0 0 0 0

League games only. **Correct as of 20 March 2007

[edit] International career

Čech has had 44 international appearances for the Czech Republic.

He was part of the Czech Euro 2004 team. Some stunning saves helped his team progress as far as the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual winners Greece on the silver goal rule. He was named in the all-star team as best goalkeeper at the tournament.

The Czech Republic qualified for the 2006 World Cup, held in Germany, and were placed in Group E, alongside Ghana, Italy and the United States. The Czech Republic was placed third by the end of the group stages, and with one win against the United States, winning by 3-0, and two losses against Ghana and Italy, the score 2-0 in both games, the Czech Republic did not advance to the second round. Italy later went on to win the Cup.

[edit] Trivia

  • Brazilian band Fresno recorded a track called Soneto Para Petr Cech ("Sonnet For Petr Cech") for their third studio album, Ciano, which was released in 2006.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Petr Cech", Yahoo. Retrieved on January 7, 2007.
  2. ^ "Petr Cech", ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved on January 7, 2007.
  3. ^ Paul Doyle. "Petr Cech", The Guardian, 2006-03-17. Retrieved on January 7, 2007.
  4. ^ Chris Hatherall. "Four All-Star Lions", thefa.com, 2004-07-05. Retrieved on January 7, 2007.
  5. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/5119818.stm
  6. ^ http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/football/06/27/czech.cech/
  7. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/5266318.stm
  8. ^ a b c "Cech has operation", chelseafc.com, 2006-10-15. Retrieved on October 16, 2006.
  9. ^ a b "Keeper Cech has surgery on skull", BBC Sport, 2006-10-15. Retrieved on October 16, 2006.
  10. ^ "I'LL BE BACK", The Daily Mirror, 2006-10-28. Retrieved on November 16, 2006.
  11. ^ "Cech complains of severe headaches following head injury", The Daily Mirror, 2006-10-27. Retrieved on November 16, 2006.
  12. ^ "Doctors: Cech out for rest of season", www.soccerway.com, 2006-10-16. Retrieved on November 16, 2006.
  13. ^ "My boy will be out for one year", The Sun, 2006-10-17. Retrieved on October 17, 2006.
  14. ^ "Injured Cech making good progress", BBC Sport, 2006-10-20. Retrieved on October 20, 2006.
  15. ^ "Mourinho angry as keepers injured", BBC Sport, 2006-10-14. Retrieved on October 16, 2006.
  16. ^ "Royals were right over Cech", itv Sport, 2006-10-18. Retrieved on October 21, 2006.
  17. ^ "Referee Riley: I did not make Cech leave the pitch for treatment", The Daily Mail, 2006-10-16. Retrieved on October 21, 2006.
  18. ^ "Coppell gives his views on Chelsea game, Hunt collision, ref Riley and more", readingfc.co.uk, 2006-10-14. Retrieved on October 16, 2006.
  19. ^ Alan Hansen. "Clumsy challenge had roots in dressing room", The Daily Telegraph, 2006-10-16. Retrieved on October 16, 2006.
  20. ^ Martin Samuel. "So, José, you believe that this was deliberate, do you? In that case we challenge you: try it", The Times, 2006-10-18. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  21. ^ Clive Tyldesley. "Mourinho fails to make charge stick against Hunt", The Daily Telegraph, 2006-10-16. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  22. ^ Des Kelly. "It's Chelsea, not Hunt, who need to apologise", Daily Mail, 2006-10-17. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  23. ^ "Jens admits keeper fears", skysports.com, 2006-10-14. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  24. ^ "Wenger fears for keepers' safety", bbc, 2006-10-17. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  25. ^ "Miklosko speaks out over Cech", skysports.com, 2006-10-14. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  26. ^ Oliver Holt. "Look Again..This Time Mourinho Has Got One Right", Daily Mirror, 2006-10-18. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  27. ^ "English head games", Sports Illustrated, 2006-10-19. Retrieved on October 20, 2006.
  28. ^ "Drogba accuses Hunt", skysports.com, 2006-10-14. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
  29. ^ "Cudicini unhappy with Riley role", BBC, 2006-10-19. Retrieved on October 20, 2006.
  30. ^ "Cech home and set to train", chelseafc.com, 2006-10-24. Retrieved on October 25, 2006.
  31. ^ "HULSE SUFFERS DOUBLE FRACTURE", premierleague.com, 2007-03-17. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.

[edit] External links


Flag of Czech Republic Czech Republic squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Flag of Czech Republic

1 Čech | 2 Grygera | 3 Mareš | 4 Galásek | 5 Kováč | 6 Jankulovski | 7 Sionko | 8 Poborský | 9 Koller | 10 Rosický | 11 Nedvěd | 12 Lokvenc | 13 Jiránek | 14 Jarolím | 15 Baroš | 16 Blažek | 17 Štajner | 18 Heinz | 19 Polák | 20 Plašil | 21 Ujfaluši | 22 Rozehnal | 23 Kinský | Coach: Brückner
Chelsea F.C. - Current Squad

1 Čech | 3 A. Cole | 4 Makélélé | 5 Essien | 6 Carvalho | 7 Shevchenko | 8 Lampard | 9 Boulahrouz | 10 J. Cole | 11 Drogba | 12 Mikel | 13 Ballack | 14 Geremi | 16 Robben | 18 Bridge | 19 Diarra | 20 Ferreira | 21 Kalou | 22 Hedman | 23 Cudicini | 24 Wright-Phillips | 26 Terry | 33 Morais | 40 Hilário | 41 Makabu-Makalambay | 47 Sahar | 48 Woods | Manager: Mourinho
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