Čech aglow as Czechs pull clear of Iceland

• Petr Čech praises his side's persistence as they beat Iceland 2-1
• Coach Pavel Vrba moved by the support from fans on his return to Plzen
• Aron Gunnarsson says Iceland "played badly"
• No shame in defeat for assistant coach Heimir Hallgrímsson
• Next games: Czech Republic v Latvia, Kazakhstan v Iceland (28 March)

Petr Čech, Czech Republic goalkeeper
It was very difficult, they played very well as a team; well-organised, really tough. They worked hard. This is a very difficult opponent to crack. Once we went behind it became even more difficult but we kept working – we had our plan for the game, we stuck to the plan. Everybody was playing really well and we worked hard to create chances.

At the break we knew our plan was working – we just made a mistake, I made a mistake at the first goal. We knew we had created opportunities and we needed only the last touch to score a goal. We knew we had to carry on this momentum. We scored a goal in the last second of the first half, which was the big help. Coming out for the second half we just needed to score one goal. I think our first goal was a decisive moment of the game; we knew we were back in the game and we knew we had 45 minutes to score another goal.

I think if we win our home games we will have a good chance to qualify in first place, which we would like to do, but we have our feet on the ground. We have four wins out of four games which is absolutely brilliant, but we still have some tough games to play and we have to make sure to get more points than we have now.

Pavel Vrba, Czech Republic coach
I have to be happy with the result but it is a pity that we conceded so early – it influenced the first half a lot. On the other hand, we had a lot of chances and we could have equalised much earlier than we did. Thank God we scored in the very last minute of the opening half. That was a great boost.

We knew about how Iceland played, and that their throw-ins are really dangerous, but we let them score at the very start from such a situation. Such things happen in football, and now I am even more satisfied that we managed to turn the result around. Something similar happened in Turkey and it shows how strong the team has become.

The second half was about breaking down Iceland's defence. We were quite lucky with the second goal – no one would have believed that ball would go in. Then Iceland began to trouble our defence more with long crosses and long throws. We were lucky again – Iceland hit the post and at the end Petr Čech saved us, saving a shot from close in.

I am back in the city of Plzen, and I was very moved even before kick-off when over 4,000 people turned up to watch us train. I saw the banner with my portrait on in the stands and that was something amazing. My biggest thanks go to the fans for not abandoning us after that first goal was conceded. They stood behind us, supported us and I must praise them – thanks to our fans we feel at home in Plzen.

Aron Gunnarsson, Iceland midfielder
It was a tough game today, we did not have any answer to their game. This was probably the most difficult game we have played in this group. We played badly, but we still created chances – that is the only thing we can take from our game, really. Maybe we scored too early. We dropped back too much and let them play and if you let a team like Czech Republic play, they're gonna hurt you.

If keep progressing as a team, then everybody is happy in Iceland. We need to analyse this game and I know we are going to do that. Next trip when we go to Kazahkstan we need to progress as a team.

Ragnar Sigurdsson, Iceland defender
We did not play well today like we have been playing before. The Czech guys deserved the win. It would have been nice to have a 1-0 score at the half-time. They equalised in the last second of the first half. The second half was very different after that. [Three wins out of four games] is better than we hoped for in the beginning. It is our first loss – we just have to be strong in the next game and take three points.

Heimir Hallgrímsson, Iceland assistant coach
To be honest, the Czech players were better from the very beginning – they were always one step ahead. It would have been great if we could have stolen a point and we had a chance to do it at the very end but the home side deserved to win.

We conceded the equaliser just before half time and it had a negative effect on our performance – even more so as it was an unlucky goal. We could have cleared the ball from the penalty area faster but the Czech players were more alert.

If anybody had told us at the beginning of the qualifiers that we would have nine points after the four opening games, we would definitely have accepted it. It is no shame to lose to this Czech side. They have earned a very good reputation and we found out why at our own cost.