Rosický relishing Czech responsibility
Thursday, June 16, 2016
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Tomáš Rosický has gone from the youngest Czech player to appear at a EURO finals to the oldest, but his role as an elder statesman sits easily on the midfielder's shoulders.
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Tomáš Rosický has been here before and, after the Czech Republic suffered an agonising opening defeat at UEFA EURO 2016, the squad's elder statesman has been rallying the troops.
Gerard Piqué's late goal meant the Czechs' resolute defensive showing in Toulouse on Monday brought no points, but skipper Rosický has been reassuring his younger team-mates of the bigger picture following the 1-0 loss. "We were telling everybody there's no reason to be disappointed, because we gave Spain an incredibly hard time.
"But they sometimes have to go through these things themselves," said the midfielder. "They've never played against players like [Andrés] Iniesta. They've only seen these players on TV. That's the difference.
"These young players were very surprised about playing against world-class players. They have to go through it. It is part of the development of a footballer, and they have to be more self-confident if we are going to hurt big opponents."
Sixteen years ago, on 11 June 2000, it was Rosický receiving such advice. He made his EURO debut in a 1-0 reverse to the Netherlands in the Low Countries, where he was the youngest Czech player to appear at a UEFA European Championship; now the 35-year-old is also the oldest.
"Honestly I never imagined it," he admitted. "It's a long time. I didn't have any plans about how long I wanted to play. But I definitely didn't think I would be playing at my age in EURO 2016."
If in the intervening years the little schemer's role has changed, one thing has stayed the same: "I've always felt that the team count on me. It's nothing new to me, I like it and I enjoy it."
Defender Tomáš Sivok, meanwhile, shared the squad's view of their captain. "He has quality, he can turn on the ball in tight spaces, and has an instinct for when you need to speed the game up or slow it down.
"He's very good with young players and he has no arrogance at all. I've been lucky to play alongside him for a number of years, and the guys here can still learn a lot from him. When he retires it will be a big loss for Czech football."
Nicknamed 'The Little Mozart', Rosický now has to set the rhythm for what will be another testing contest – against Croatia in Saint-Etienne on Friday. "It'll be a hard match, against another very technical team. It will be very similar to the Spain game, because Croatia's quality is huge. But we're glad to have the chance to show more in an attacking way."