Petr Cech is pleased with the way the Czech Republic bounced back from their Russia disappointment to beat Greece.
Czech keeper delighted with win despite making mistake
Petr Cech is pleased with the way the Czech Republic bounced back from their Russia disappointment to beat Greece.
The Czechs slipped to a heavy 4-1 Group A opening loss but beat Greece 2-1 on Tuesday to now sit second in the table.
They can qualify for the quarter-finals with a win against co-hosts Poland in their last game and Cech is delighted with their response to the opening defeat.
"If you don't do well, it is unpleasant. But the following day after the Russia defeat, each of us knew it was behind us. We had two matches to turn things around," he told
idnes.cz.
Under pressure
"We had been under pressure and needed to win. In the end we have the three points on board and that's excellent. We have made the first step and now there are 90 minutes against Poland."
The Czech's won despite Cech gifting Greece a lifeline early in the second half after fumbling Georgios Samaras' low cross on the edge of the box to the awaiting Theofanis Gekas, who slotted the ball into a gaping goal.
Cech took full responsibility for the error.
"Of course. Who else's mistake should it be?" he said.
"I did not have to go for the ball so fast. Moreover, Tomas (Sivok) did everything right - he stopped when I shouted. It is my mistake, I did not resolve it correctly. "
Memory
The Chelsea goalkeeper admitted that immediately the memory of his mistake at Euro 2008 against Turkey, when the ball dropped from his hands to Nihat Kahveci who scored and Turkey won 3-2 after coming from 2-0 behind, came to his mind.
"This was the first time when I recalled such a moment from the past. When I conceded the goal I recalled the Turkey match immediately. But I said to myself that history would not repeat itself," he said.
"This mistake looks comical but that sometimes happens in football. The most important thing is we managed to win the match.
"Up until the mistake I had been doing well, so I believed I would not concede any more goals. The positive fact for me is that it did not leave any impression on me and I immediately picked two or three crosses. I finished the match exactly as I wanted."
