Petr Čech (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpɛtr̩ ˈtʃɛx] ( listen)) (born 20 May 1982) is a Czech footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Czech Republic as a goalkeeper, for whom he has played since July 2004. Čech previously played for Viktoria Plzeň, Chmel Blšany, Sparta Prague, and Rennes. He was voted into the all-star team of Euro 2004 after helping his country reach the semi-finals. Čech also received the individual award of Best Goalkeeper in the 2004/2005, 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 seasons of the UEFA Champions League. In addition, he was named in the FIFPro and UEFA Champions League teams of the season in 2006.
He currently holds the Premier League record for fewest appearances required to reach 100 clean sheets, having done so in 180 league appearances. He also holds a Czech professional league record of not conceding a goal in 855 competitive minutes (he previously held a record for the most clean sheets accomplished in a single Premier League season (25), set during Chelsea’s 2004–05 title-winning campaign). He also has a club record at his former team Sparta Prague, having gone 928 minutes unbeaten in all competitions in 2001–2002, when his unbeaten run in Czech league competition was combined with his performances in the UEFA Champions League. During the 2004–05 season, Čech went 1,025 minutes without conceding a goal — a Premier League record until it was surpassed by Edwin van der Sar of Manchester United on 27 January 2009. Čech also won the Barclays Golden Gloves in both the 2004/2005 and 2009/2010 seasons.
He was recognised by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics as one of Five World's Best Goalkeepers in 2010, along with Iker Casillas, Júlio César, Manuel Neuer, and Maarten Stekelenburg.
Petr Čech is widely regarded as one of the world's best goalkeepers.
Čech made his comeback against Liverpool on 20 January 2007, which they eventually lost 2–0, wearing a rugby style headguard, which he continued to wear in every game. The headguard was made by Canterbury of New Zealand, a company that specializes in protective rugby gear, and includes extra plastic polymer foam protection to cover the areas of his skull weakened by the collision. Čech’s use of the scrum cap caused initial friction with Chelsea’s apparel manufacturer Adidas, which were not pleased by a Chelsea player apparently advertising for another company, but the controversy quickly blew over when the competitor's logo was removed. Adidas then went on to develop a scrum cap of their own which carries the '3 stripes' logo and is designed specifically for Čech.
Since the injury, Čech has continued to wear the scrum cap owing to the weaker than normal bone structure in his skull.
Although Chelsea lost Čech's comeback match 2–0, he then went approximately 810 minutes of Premier League play without conceding a goal. On 11 April 2007, Čech was awarded the FA Premier League Player of the Month award for the first time in his career in recognition of the eight successive league clean sheets he had kept. He also was the first goalkeeper to receive the award since Tim Flowers in 2000.[30] This run was ended during a 4–1 Chelsea victory over West Ham United on 18 April 2007 when Carlos Tévez scored against him.
Čech also kept a clean sheet for Chelsea in the 2007 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. He shared with United’s Edwin van der Sar the honour of being the first goalkeepers to keep a clean sheet over 90 minutes in a competitive fixture, but became the first goalkeeper to end a competitive game unbeaten, at the new Wembley Stadium, as Chelsea beat United 1–0 to win the FA Cup
2007–08 season
Čech’s 2007–08 season got off to a rough start with Chelsea conceding 2 goals against Birmingham City on the first match of the season. Despite the setback, Chelsea managed to win 3–2 and set an English record for unbeaten league matches at home.
On 7 November 2007, Čech suffered an ankle injury in the 0–0 Champions League Match at Schalke 04. This sidelined him for a few weeks before badly bruising his hip against Blackburn on 23 December 2007.
Chelsea suffered their first major blow when they lost the Carling Cup Final to Tottenham Hotspur, with Čech parrying the ball onto Jonathan Woodgate’s head for the winner. He played in several games until the eve of Chelsea’s home Champions League tie with Greek champions Olympiacos when he injured his ankle in training. In the weeks that followed, Čech missed key games of Chelsea’s campaign including the Arsenal London derby and the Champions League quarter-final first and second legs.
On 7 April 2008 it was announced that Čech had undergone emergency surgery on his chin and lips following an accidental collision with Tal Ben Haim during training. He had 50 stitches put on his mouth and chin, having missed 22 games this season due to injuries, Čech said he hoped to get back on the field within a few weeks. He returned to action on 14 April, in a home match against Wigan, which Chelsea drew 1–1. He appeared in the Champions league final against Manchester United, where Chelsea lost on penalties.
2008–09 season
Čech training with Chelsea
Čech started off the 2008–09 season in stunning form, with Chelsea conceding only seven goals in 17 games, keeping 11 clean sheets; ten of which with Čech in goal. In November 2008, Chelsea beat Sunderland 5–0 at Stamford Bridge, a result that gave Čech a century of Chelsea clean sheets. Čech kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory over Juventus in the Champions League on his 200th appearance for the club, and he also starred in a crucial 1–0 victory away at Villa Park against Aston Villa, making good saves from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Gareth Barry to second Chelsea third in the Premier League. The following week, Čech helped Chelsea go second in the table after his side beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge 2–1, with Čech saving from Paul Scharner in the first half. Successive clean sheets by Čech in Chelsea's wins against Portsmouth and Coventry have seen his side consolidate their position in the Premier League whilst progressing into the FA Cup semi-finals. Čech also made crucial saves from Dirk Kuyt and Xabi Alonso as Chelsea beat Liverpool 3–1 at Anfield in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-finals.
In a crucial Premier League game in April 2009, with Chelsea seemingly cruising against Bolton Wanderers 4–0, manager Guus Hiddink took off both Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard only for Bolton to score three late goals which questioned the Chelsea defence, and in particular Čech. However Čech responded when he saved a penalty from Mark Noble in Chelsea's 1–0 win at the Boleyn Ground against West Ham. He also kept a clean sheet in the next game against Barcelona during the Champions League semifinal first leg match. Following a 3–2 win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Čech and Chelsea finished the season with the joint-tightest defence in the Premier League along with Manchester United; conceding just 24 goals over the course of the season. Despite conceding the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history, Čech helped Chelsea's 2009 FA Cup Final triumph over Everton. Chelsea won 2–1, earning the Czech his seventh trophy at the club.
Former coach Luiz Felipe Scolari accused Čech, Michael Ballack and Drogba of causing his sacking, saying that they "did not accept my training methods or my demands". Scolari also claimed that it stemmed from a row between him and the Czech goalkeeper over the latter's alleged insistence on being given a personal coach. Čech denied the claims saying that he was "disappointed with [Scolari] because never in my life have I had a personal goalkeeping coach".
2009–10 season
Čech began the 09–10 season in winning form with Chelsea, beating Manchester United in the Community Shield final at Wembley. With the game tied 2–2 at the end of normal time, Čech saved penalties from Ryan Giggs and Patrice Evra. Čech kept goal for Chelsea in the six match winning run that opened their season and placed them on top of the Premier League. However,on September 26, 2009, Čech was sent off and at the same time conceded the winning penalty for tripping Wigan Athletic forward Hugo Rodallega, in the defeat that broke the run and conceded the lead in the league to Manchester United for the time being. On 27 February 2010, Cech picked up an injury in the Champions League clash against Inter. On the 13th of April against Bolton, Čech kept his 100th clean sheet for Chelsea. Since then Petr has shown many key and solid performances in the last few games remaining in the Premier League. He made a fantastic save against Wigan's Victor Moses that sealed the Golden Glove award for Petr Cech this season. He concluded his season by saving a penalty against Portsmouth in the FA Cup final, ensuring that the Blues went on to retain the Cup and achieve their first domestic double.
Čech in season 2010/2011
Čech suffered a calf injury in Chelsea's pre-season, a recurrence of an injury suffered against Inter Milan the previous season. A spokesman for Chelsea confirmed: "Petr will be out for around a month after scans showed a tear in his right calf. He is expected to miss the rest of the pre-season campaign." Čech subsequently missed the following three weeks, including Chelsea's 3–1 loss to Manchester United in the Community Shield. He returned on August 14 and kept a clean sheet as Chelsea beat West Bromwich Albion 6–0, which the Czech making a good save from Graham Dorrans' deflected effort. Cech then made a series of excellent saves from Andrei Arshavin in a 2–0 win over Arsenal , before keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw at Villa Park. Čech managed to recover from conceding many goals and losing matches when Chelsea came back to win a UEFA Champion's League match against MSK Zilina 2–1. On March 7 Čech made his 300th Chelsea appearance against Premier League side Blackpool which Chelsea went onto win 3–1. On May 19th Cech was awarded the Chelsea F.C. Player of the Year for the first time. More than 28,000 fans voted for the award, which was handed over by manager Carlo Ancelotti.
2011-12 season
Cech started the opening game of Chelsea`s 2011-12 season away to Stoke City, which ended 0–0. On the 18th August 2011 Cech was ruled out for up to four weeks after he sustained a knee injury in training.. He made his return 3 weeks later against Sunderland. Petr cechs performance during the match was top notch. Resulting in Chelsea winning 1-2. He kept a clean sheet in Chelsea's first Champions League match of the season in a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
International career
Čech began his career in the U16s, working his way up each age group level before making his senior debut in February 2002. He first came to prominence as a twenty-year-old at the 2002 U-21 European Championships when his penalty shoot-out heroics in the final against France earned the Czech Republic their first title at youth level. 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 golden 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.
On 17 October 2007, Čech was captain of the Czech Republic team for their Euro 2008 Group D qualifier against Germany. He kept a clean sheet and the Czechs defeated Germany 3–0 away to book their place for the finals in Austria and Switzerland. In the last group game of the final tournament, Čech was beaten three times in the final 15 minutes as Turkey overcame a two-goal deficit to knock the Czechs out. Čech had a cross slip through his hands, allowing Nihat to score the second (and equalizing) goal.
After the blunder against Turkey, he took full responsibility for his team's exit from the UEFA Euro 2008 and actually considered retiring but then he was talked out of it and he stated that he wants to keep representing the Czech Republic "for many years to come" and also stated that he wants to repay his mistake and confidence that all the Czech Republic's players have in him.
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