Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech retires from international football
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has announced his retirement from international football.
The Czech Republic’s most-capped player made the announcement as he collected the national team’s player of the year award at a ceremony in Prague on Friday.
He retires with 124 caps, the last of them won in a 2-0 defeat to Turkey as the Czechs were eliminated from Euro 2016 with just one point from three group games.
We lived some amazing moments together – Wishing the team all the best for the future #CZE pic.twitter.com/w1BT91BhbT
— Petr Cech (@PetrCech) July 8, 2016
“I would hate to end up in a situation when I would start feeling tired midway through a qualifying campaign,” he said.
“I like to do things at a 100 percent. The decision is final. I feel there will be a moment when I will need more time to rest.
“I’m sorry we failed to fulfil the potential of the team, we obviously could have done better”.
Cech left Chelsea for Arsenal in a £10m deal last summer and won the Premier League’s Golden Glove award in his first season at the Emirates thanks to 16 clean sheets in 34 appearances.
“For the next season the aim is to add some silverware into the cabinet, but we expect a big challenge as well,” he told Sky Sports News on Thursday. “So many teams are buying players and improving, everybody wants to be in the top four, and will be challenging for the title.”
