Petr Cech has defended Stephen Hunt following his sending off during Republic of Ireland's defeat to Czech Republic.
Cech has sympathy for sent-off Republic star
Petr Cech has defended Stephen Hunt following his sending off during Republic of Ireland's defeat to Czech Republic.
Hunt was somewhat harshly sent off on the hour mark for a lunge at Czech striker Jan Polak.
The Reading midfielder was shown a straight red card despite appearing to win the ball in his challenge with Polak.
Hunt, who came on for the injured John O'Shea in the first half, was given a rough reception from the home crowd as a result of his involvement in Cech's head injury last season.
Cech admitted Hunt was unlucky to be sent off and says he would not have been dismissed if he made such a tackle in the Premier League.
Unlucky
"I think he was not in an easy situation and, eventually, saw a red card which, most likely, would not even be taken as a foul if it was played in the UK as he firstly played the ball and only after that hit Polak with a sliding tackle," Cech told TV Nova.
"He suffered from the fact that it was an international game, I am almost convinced that he would not be shown a card in England, it would not be a foul there."
When asked if he spoke with Hunt during the pre-match warm-up or at all, the 25-year-old said: "No, I was preparing myself on one side and he was preparing on the opposite one and, anyway, I hardly speak with anyone before the game as I am concentrating on my performance. I did not have the possibility."
Delighted
Turning his attentions to the game, Cech was delighted to see Czech Republic move a step closer to qualifying for Euro 2008 by moving six points clear of Republic of Ireland.
"We are happy for the clean sheet. I think we have fulfilled what we expected from the game," added Cech.
"They were a high-quality opponent and considering that, these three points are golden."
Czech coach Karel Bruckner was refusing to get carried away by the result and believes there is still a long way to go before qualification is secured.
"The qualification is not over yet, there are still a lot of games to be played and we cannot be carried away by any euphoria," said Bruckner.
