Goalkeeper Petr Cech retires from international football

Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech has announced his worldwide retirement on 8 July, days after his side’s group-stage exit at the Euro 2016.

The Czech Republic were eliminated from this summer’s European Championships by Turkey after finishing bottom of Group D with one point, which they secured in their 2-2 draw with Croatia. Cech has been a mainstay on the Czech national team since his 2002 debut, a 2-0 victory over Hungary.

“I like to do things at a 100 percent”.

“I’ve been playing in the national team for 14 years”, he told Arsenal Player, adding that they “always qualified” when it came to big tournaments.

The 34-year-old Cech announced his decision after he was named the best Czech footballer of the last season for the 10th time in a poll of sports journalists.

But he has now announced his global retirement ahead of a new Premier League season with the Gunners – who he joined last summer from London rivals Chelsea.

He added on Twitter: “We lived some unbelievable moments together – wishing the team all the best for the future”.

Cech picked qualifying for the 2006 World Cup as one of his most thrilling moments, he rued that they could only finish third in the Euro 2004.

With Chelsea he won four Premier League titles (2005, 2006, 2010, 2015), the Champions League (2012), the Europa League (2013) and a host of other trophies. In the end I got to play with them more than anyone else before me. But as I said, you can not stop time and sometimes you need to make decisions looking to the future.

He continuesd on his domestic career hopes: “I’ve had so many club games to play year-by-year too” that he feels the need for a greater lay-off period. He beat Karel Poborsky’s record of 118 games for the Czech Republic and then passed David James as the man with the most clean sheets in the Premier League, stopping for now at 178, with James making 169.