Chelsea courage cheers Cech
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Article summary
Goalkeeper Petr Cech said Chelsea FC had "showed great character" in overturning an early deficit against FC Porto at Stamford Bridge to reach the last eight.
Article body
The last time Petr Čech conceded a goal at Stamford Bridge in the UEFA Champions League, Chelsea FC lost the game and their hopes of lifting the trophy were about to expire for another season. When he was beaten against FC Porto it looked ominous for the London club once again but this time they went on to cancel out the deficit and book their place in the quarter-finals.
Important player
Ricardo Quaresma's coolly-taken finish placed beneath Čech's despairing dive stunned Chelsea into a vigorous response. It was also the goal that ended a run of five successive clean sheets for Čech in his home stadium since returning from his horrific head injury which helps emphasise just how important he is to his team and how much they missed his reassuring presence when he was recuperating. Quaresma's effort aside, Čech was scarcely tested against Porto and there are sure to be tougher tests along the UEFA Champions League road. He admits they need to improve but saluted the spirit which helped Chelsea overturn Porto's early advantage.
Chelsea character
"It was a difficult game and for sure we did not want to go 1-0 down so early," said the Czech international, who last conceded at home in the competition at the same stage last season against FC Barcelona. "But after that we showed great character to turn things around and win the game and we are delighted to be in the next round." Čech shrugged off the praise of his manager José Mourinho who before the game had said his goalkeeper had come back from injury in even better form than before. "I just try to do my best in each game but to be honest I did not have to do anything much against Porto because we were on top," he said.
Higher ranking
He can expect to be a lot busier in the next round even though, with the holders, FC Barcelona, as well as FC Internazionale Milano and Olympique Lyonnais having departed from the competition, Chelsea are now sure to be ranked even stronger favourites to lift the trophy for the first time. Čech urges caution, insisting that the sides who put out that illustrious trio are deserving of just as much respect. "It was a big result for [AS] Roma, and Inter and Valencia [CF] are at the same level so it's not a case that the worst team has gone through," he added. "What it does show is the quality that is in the competition at this stage."
