THE CECH WHO BOUNCED BACK
LEGENDARY KEEPER RECOVERED FROM LIFE-SAVING SURGERY TO LEAD CHELSEA TO EUROPEAN GLORY
LOOK no further than one night in Munich, and three crucial penalty saves in a Champions League final to find the pinnacle of Petr Cech’s magnificent career.
Cech kept Chelsea in the game that night against Bayern in the Allianz Arena when he foiled Arjen Robben from the spot in extratime and then he denied Ivica Olic and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the shootout.
His save from Schweinsteiger, touching it on to a post with fingertips, set the scene for Didier Drogba to step forward and win the trophy which had eluded these players so often and so agonisingly over the years.
‘I wanted to score for Petr Cech,’ Drogba said the next day.
Cech was popular because of his personality and all he had achieved in his career after his personal ordeal, fighting his way back after an injury which almost ended his life on the pitch.
Not only was he consistently brilliant and a shining example whenever he appeared for Chelsea but he was a sensible, intelligent and mature character in the dressing room.
He is fluent in five languages, mastering Spanish in little more than a month, and always quick to step forward to shoulder responsibility when it comes to media duties. He also likes to play drums. When he retires as a player at the end of the season, Cech has all the attributes to move into an executive role at a top club. Why not at Stamford Bridge?
Along with Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard, he was one of the four main pillars of a truly great team created by Jose Mourinho, bankrolled by Roman Abramovich. A team which endured together and adapted until they had been crowned European champions in 2012.
His £7million transfer from Rennes had already been agreed under Claudio Ranieri but the 22-year-old arrived with Mourinho in the summer of 2004 and soon became the goalkeeper behind the Premier League’s meanest defence. Within a year, Chelsea had won the title for the first time in half a century, finishing a dozen points clear of Arsenal and conceding only 15 goals in 38 games. A year later they won it again.
He was the ultimate professional, dedicated to his craft and always searching for ways to improve.
As part of his preparation for the Champions League final in 2012, Cech studied footage of every Bayern penalty taken in the previous five years. He went the right way for all six spot-kicks.
It was October 2006 when Cech suffered a depressed fracture of the skull in a collision with Stephen Hunt during a game at Reading. Emergency surgery was required to save his life and the fact that he was back in goal by January, wearing the protective headgear which became his trademark, is testament to his courage and determination.
And he continued to rack up the medals. Cech won the Double in 2010, the Champions League in 2012 and the Europa League in 2013 but lost his grip on the No 1 spot when Thibaut Courtois was recalled from his extended loan period at Atletico Madrid.
He was mainly used as the back-up keeper as he collected a fourth Premier League title in 2015 before moving to Arsenal with Abramovich’s blessing after nine years of service. In truth, it was never quite the same once he left Chelsea for Arsenal.
Now he will retire at the end of the season with an enviable roll of honour. Four Premier Leagues, five FA Cups, three League Cups, two major European trophies and a record 124 international caps for the Czech Republic.
He was one of the great goalkeepers of the Premier League era and his heroics in Munich will never be forgotten.