On the day the World Cup play-offs begin in Europe, Petr Cech recalls his mixed experiences of them during his long Czech Republic career, explains what is required of Jorginho and Edouard Mendy in the next week, and expresses pride at his Premier League Hall of Fame nomination…
In 2001, the Czech team was at its peak. After the success at Euro ’96 in England, they had won every game in qualifying for Euro 2000 and been the first team to qualify. The young players like Baros, Smicer, Poborsky, Koller all grew and matured into the core of the 2000 team. They had a difficult group and didn’t make it out, but were big favourites in the qualifiers for the Japan/South Korea World Cup.
The pressure told
Everybody thought this was going to be the time we qualified. We came second in the group and played a play-off against Belgium. I was 19 and it was the second time I had been called up by the national team. I had a brilliant year with Sparta Prague, breaking all the records and playing well in the Champions League, and I was called up as the number three goalkeeper.
You could feel the pressure was on. The atmosphere was a bit strange. Things were going on. The disappointment of the previous Euros and the expectation came together. We had two bad games and lost both 1-0. That was when I realised having top players at top European clubs was no guarantee at international level.
So when we played Norway four years later, everyone was aware of the disappointment of the previous campaign, when we missed out on the World Cup unnecessarily. That added to the pressure. I went there with the experience of having played big games for Chelsea, being under pressure, but I can tell you there was extra pressure in those games! Everybody wanted it so much. I felt it, and I put everything into it.
We had two really difficult games, but we managed to win both 1-0. We qualified for the World Cup as the Czech Republic for the first time in our history. It had a huge significance, and it was an amazing feeling to qualify. It’s a special moment in a player’s career, but it can really impact you if things go wrong.
Unfortunately, that is the last time the Czech national team qualified for the World Cup. This time the play-offs have changed and the Czechs have both games away. If they beat Sweden in a one-off game they have Poland away. It's probably the toughest task you can have. We will see if they manage to do it.
Giants meet in Europe and Africa
There is a good chance Portugal play Italy next week in the play-off final. It is difficult to imagine either not having a team in the World Cup, so the pressure is all in.
The players are impacted. When you go to the play-offs full of hope but come home on the losing side, it can be hard for a player to recover straight away when they then play for their club. It really makes a difference, so fingers crossed for Jorginho and Italy.
For Edou and Senegal, it’s a similar story. There are two huge favourites going head-to-head again. Egypt had the disappointment of losing the AFCON final, but they will use that as an engine to try to win this time.
Both teams know each other really well, so it’s going to be like another final. It’s a tricky situation for both because they keep bumping into each other in these important games. They can’t surprise each other, and you could see in that final they were pretty even.
Dealing with little prep
When you go away with your national team, you don’t have much time to prepare for such important games. So you have to try to make sure as a team you go through the basic principles so everybody is on the same page.
There has been a big gap between the last games and now. You might have injuries or players not performing. These three days are about getting mentally and physically ready to compete, rather than focusing so much on strategy. You must trust your game. You can’t dwell on too much. There is an element of luck and circumstance involved as well, and you can only hope they fall on your side.
Premier League Hall of Fame pride
It is a great honour to be nominated for the Hall of Fame. When I came to the Premier League in 2004, I had all the hopes of being successful, playing well and leaving my mark. The way it turned out for me - breaking Premier League records, having the most number of clean sheets - is something I could never have imagined.
It makes you feel happy about the mark you left. When you play football, you play to be remembered as a top player and to inspire others to start kicking or catching a ball. When you finish, and people nominate you for things like this, you feel like you have left a legacy. It’s a great honour.