Arsenal and Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech has announced his retirement from international football.
Cech, 34, has amassed 121 caps for his country, and captained the Czechs in all three of their group games at Euro 2016, where they failed to make the knockout stages.
He worked his way though the international youth levels, before making his senior bow in 2002, after guiding the Under-21’s to that year’s European Championships.
He has appeared at four European Championships, as well as the 2006 World Cup. He was in the Czech squad that made the semi-finals of Euro 2004, where they were defeated by Portugal.
Cech is also the most capped player in the history of the Czech team.
Accompanied by a picture of him in the dressing room with his international colleagues, he tweeted “We lived some amazing moments together – Wishing the team all the best for the future.”
“I’ve been playing in the national team for 14 years,” Cech told Arsenal Player. “We always qualified for the big tournaments.
When I was a kid, my ultimate dream was to play for the national team at least once
“I’ve had so many club games to play year-by-year too, and I think I’ve reached the point where I believe that if I want to continue doing things to 100 per cent every day, like I’ve always done, then I will probably need more time to rest and recover.
“This is a purely football-based decision. If I want to prolong my career and play at the highest level for as long as I can, then I will probably need to find the balance so that I can continue to do so.
“I’m now 34 and the next [international] tournament is in two years which, in football, is a very long time. The last thing I wanted to do was start a campaign and then say ‘I don’t think it’s right for me to continue’ halfway through it.
“I’ve made fantastic memories and I will keep them. But as I said, you cannot stop time and sometimes you need to make decisions looking to the future. I believe it is the right move.”
By Steve Osborne @BlizzardSteve75
