Čech named Czech No1 once again
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
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Goalkeeper Petr Čech was proud to draw level with "the legendary Ivo Viktor" after claiming the Czech player of the year gong for the fifth time ahead of Petr Jiráček and Tomáš Rosický.
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Goalkeeper Petr Čech has been named the Czech player of the year for the fifth time and the fourth in succession.
The Chelsea FC custodian topped the annual poll of coaches, players and journalists ahead of two midfielders: VfL Wolfsburg's Petr Jiráček and Arsenal FC's Tomáš Rosický.
It was the 29-year-old's fifth triumph, following previous awards in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010, moving him level with fellow keeper Ivo Viktor on the all-time list. The FK Dukla Praha stalwart was celebrated as his country's finest in 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976.
Speaking at the ceremony last night, Čech said: "Last year may have been one of the most successful in my career. I was voted player of the year at Chelsea, which was a great feeling as I was in competition with so many stars. It's also a very good feeling to achieve the same as the legendary Ivo Viktor."
Other prizes given at the annual event included honours for FC Viktoria Plzeň's Pavel Vrba (coach of the year) and AC Sparta Praha midfielder Ladislav Krejčí (young player of the year).
Čech and his Czech Republic team-mates trained at Dukla's Juliska stadium yesterday in preparation for Wednesday's friendly in Dublin against fellow UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers the Republic of Ireland.
