In a social media announcement, Petr Cech announced that at the end of the current season he would end his career as a goalkeeper. The great Czech with countless appearances and numerous titles decided that in his 36 and staying free from Arsenal there is no reason to continue on the field as he already feels full.
He was crowned European champion, champion of England, won many inter-club and individual distinctions, broke various records and always has a moment to determine his career. That injury in October 2006, by a great goalkeeper turned him into a legend, after he returned stronger and after this event won, apart from trophies, the hearts of the public. The Czech is a unique figure in world football and is loved by most football fans. Not just for his value and what he did with Rennes, Chelsea Arsenal or the Czech national team, but for 7 very specific reasons.
Because he learned the place again in English
The departure of Peter Schmeichel left a huge gap in the English championship. The Premier League was comfortable with mediocrities such as David James, Mark Schwarzer, Tim Howard, Brad Friedel, Sey Given, Roy Carroll and many other goalkeepers who were 'distinguished' at the beginning of the previous decade. Until a Czech from Rennes put on their 'glasses'. The impressive displacement, the perfect positions, the quick launches and especially the sense of dominance that exuded in his area prevented the opposing attackers even from the thought of the goal.
The € 10.000.000 spent by the Blues in the summer of 2004 seemed like a huge amount for a player with a Czech career so far. A year later, Roman Abramovich not only did not cry τα his money, but realized that it was an investment of years that had already paid off with the first league of his time and with 24 games without a broken home in the Premier League, performance record in the category, as was the record of only 15 goals conceded by Jose Mourinho's team. From that point and for about a decade, no one disputed that the Czech was the best goalkeeper on the Island and now one of the top on the planet.
Because he returned from THIS injury
He was injured in the 16 second of the match against Reading in a match that no one would remember under different circumstances. No one had realized the extent of the damage. Not even the doctors above him or the knees himself or he was screaming to get out of the court and continue playing. Stephen Hunt's kick looked insignificant, but it was enough to crack the Czech skull and goalkeeper. fragments found at depths of 5 millimeters, posing a risk of even brain injury.
What I did not realize at the time was that when you are a triplet like him, you have a very thin skull at this point in the brain. It is normal in a triplet. That's why he continues to wear the helmet now, because he has a thin skull. The words of Brian Inglis, Chelsea's chief doctor at the time, are shocking, as they prove that he did not initially know exactly what was happening to the Czech. He realized this later and despite the delay of the ambulance (although there was one in the area, they were waiting for a second from the hospital, so that there is always a hospital vehicle on the field), the Czech did not suffer anything worse.
If my goalkeeper dies in these locker rooms or on the move, it's something English football needs to think about. Mourinho's attack at the press conference, when he was not yet aware of the Czech situation, provoked reactions from the ambulance service in the area, but it was worthy of the size of the Czech injury.
He did not stay at Reading Hospital, but was taken to Oxford that night due to the seriousness of the condition. The incident was treated as a car accident, as the blow to the Czech skull was so strong. The delicate surgery lasted hours. The neurosurgeons removed the pieces of the skull that had been pressed against the brain and then proceeded to reshape the skull, inserting two metal plates over the left ear.
I had a compressive skull fracture. Some pieces of bone went deep and this was the biggest risk. The deeper they penetrated, the more it could happen, since the left side of the brain is an important center of movement. He himself remembers nothing of the incident and what followed, although eyewitnesses claim that he had behaved like a man with severe craniocerebral injuries, or aggressive and violent.
About 2,5 months after the incident, he returned to action and in fact in a very difficult game, against Liverpool at 'Anfield'. He did not return alone, but with his later alter ego, the protective helmet, which he never parted with again in a fight or training session. After an injury that could have cost him everything, he returned to the field in January 2007 and two months later became the player of the month in the Premier League after 8 consecutive games without conceding a goal, in a series of 810 minutes.
He continued at the same high level and was one of the 'pillars' of the club's subsequent success, culminating in winning the Champions League 2012, where in the final against Bayern Munich, he fell correctly in all the penalties of the process that decided the winner.
Because he has been essential all his life
As he wrote in his farewell message, this is his 20 season as a professional footballer, of which 15 in the Premier League. From 1999-2000 to 2018-2019, only in the 3 season was he not the key to his team: in his first, last with Chelsea and this year! 1,96m height The goalkeeper did not go unnoticed neither in Blancani where he started his career, nor in Sparta Prague where he fought one season (2001-2002) or in Rehn where he got his first big transfer 2002 nor of course in Chelsea or Arsenal where he changed.
He was always the man his coaches relied on and that is why he always had over 36 games per season, even in the year of his injury, except for the 3 seasons that he was a substitute. So far he has 771 matches at the inter-club level and 124 with the national team between 2002 and 2016. For this reason, a significant contribution is credited to all the trophies he won. From the 4 leagues with Chelsea, the 4 cups, the 4 League Cups, the two Super Cups, the Champions League of 2012 and the Europa League next season, to the cup and the two Super Cups with Arsenal.
Even more are the individual distinctions, among which Best Goalkeeper in France in 2004, 'Golden Gloves' in England in 4 different years (the only one with 2 teams) and of course there are his records. He is the goalkeeper with the most inviolable goals in the Premier League with 202 (James is 2nd with 169), he is the goalkeeper with the fewest appearances (180) until he reached 100 goals without a goal in the Premier League and had the record of minutes without goals. in the league from 2004-2005 (1.025), until it was broken by Edwin van der Sar of Manchester United with 1.311 in 2008-2009.
Because he is fluent and speaks 5 languages
Goalkeepers are known for their intelligence at least compared to players who play in other positions. Nevertheless, the Czech has the confirmation. This is a football player who speaks 5 languages fluently. And if one does not help him much, his mother, the others help him to communicate well with his defenders in any team. He can speak to John Terry in English, to William Gallas in French, to Per Mertesacker in German and to Nacho Montreal in Spanish and direct them without misunderstanding. Of course, in these languages he communicates with the other teammates regardless of nationality.
'Sometimes foreign players do not understand what you are saying. Then you realize that it is easier to speak their language than to hope they understand you. It can happen, 'he says. He is not only a linguist. While the other players go out or play videogames, he studies history and psychology when he is in the hotels on missions and wants to 'kill' his time.
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