Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has been named the Czech Republic's player of the year for 2008.
Blues keeper takes top gong
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has been named the Czech Republic's player of the year for 2008.
The Blues shot-stopper has now been named as his country's top performer on two occasions - the previous time coming in 2005.
He beat off competition from Juventus legend Pavel Nedved, who finished as runner-up, and Atletico Madrid defender Tomas Ujfalusi, who took third, to take the crown.
"Thanks to everyone who voted for me," Cech said on his
personal website.
"Those people must have rated my performances over the course of the whole year and not just the unlucky match against Turkey."
Cech is referring to a fixture during the group stages of Euro 2008 when a rare handling mistake on his part saw the Turks progress to the quarter-finals of the competition at the Czech Republic's expense.
Sluggish
The towering shot-stopper has made few mistakes of that calibre since, but has been unable to help Chelsea to the top of the Premier League table.
The Blues continue to trail Manchester United by four points in the title race, with a 1-0 defeat against capital rivals Tottenham on Saturday doing them no favours.
"We missed a great opportunity to close the gap on Manchester United. There are no excuses though," said Cech.
"We simply failed in the game. We were sluggish and until about the 60th minute we could not get into a good tempo.
"Then we had several chances, pushed Tottenham into their own half, but they survived thanks to a good performance from (Heurelho) Gomes."
