It was a season Petr Cech would like to forget, and it ended on another bad note.
Almost a month after Cech and his Chelsea teammates lost the Champions League final in a penalty shootout against Manchester United - despite saving a spot kick from Cristiano Ronaldo - the Czech Republic blew a two-goal lead and lost to Turkey 3-2 Sunday at the European Championship.
The Czechs could have advanced to the quarter-finals if they had won the Group A match at Stade de Geneve, but instead they'll be heading home.
Cech, one of the world's greatest goalkeepers, produced an unlikely blunder three minutes before time when he fumbled a simple cross and allowed Nihat Kahveci to level the score at 2-2. Then the Czechs collapsed and allowed another goal.
"The only positive thing about this season is that it's over," said Cech, who didn't blame anyone but himself. "When you make a mistake, you have to admit it. . . . It was my mistake that decided that we have to go home.
"The ball was all the sudden too far away from me and as I tried to control it landed just in front of Nihat," Cech added. "Football is played by 11 players and unfortunately, every time it happens that some do well and some do worse."
Cech has a Premier League season behind him that saw him sidelined on several occasions due to various injuries. He strained a muscle in his side just before Christmas, and this year he missed nine games because of an ankle injury. His comeback had to be postponed after needing surgery to repair a facial injury he suffered in training after a collision with teammate Tal Ben Haim.
"The season was unbelievable, just bad luck after bad luck," Cech said. "Whenever I happened to recover I was hit again by a disappointment from another injury, a disappointment from the defeat in the (Champions League) final.
"This is even worse because it was me who made a mistake."
Cech acknowledged it was tougher for him to cope with the failure to win the Champions League.
"I think it was worse for me because it was the final but on the other hand I played for my country," Cech said, adding he doesn't plan to watch the quarter-final matches at Euro 2008.
"I hope that my bad luck is over," Cech said. "I'm looking forward to the next season with thousands of new challenges."
The Canadian Press
I felt really sorry for him last nite, so much so i had a sick feeling when he dropped the cross for Turkey's 2nd goal (I think its because we have all been there but perhaps not at that high level).
The sad thing was he delt with crosses brilliantly all nite up untill that moment and for me during this competition he has proved he is the best in the World and im sure he will bounce back an even better goalkeeper after this error.
People shouldn't forget that up untill the error last nite he has been superb during the finals, especially against Portugal.
UEFA 'B' Licence Goalkeeper Coach