Petr Cech played against legendary forwards like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (Image: GETTY)
icon Petr Cech has named as his toughest opponent, putting the former England striker ahead of players such as and . Cech was regarded as one of the world’s best goalkeepers at the peak of his powers, helping to win four Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2012. He went toe-to-toe with some of the greatest players the game has ever seen, including the likes of Ronaldo and Messi, but has named Rooney as the player who gave him ‘nightmares’.
The pair clashed in the Premier League on 27 occasions, with Rooney claiming 10 wins and Cech having the better record with 11 victories. Rooney had a prolific scoring record against Cech’s former teams, bagging nine career goals against . He also scored 15 times against , though Cech was not in goal for the majority of those games.
Cech played in 27 league games against Wayne Rooney during his career (Image: GETTY)
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The former Czech Republic international opened up on his battles with Rooney in a recent interview with , saying: “Wayne Rooney was the one, like when we played United in the league, he was always the one.
“I was like: ‘Oh, come on, this is a nightmare’. He can chip you from the halfway line and he’s relentless, he’s everywhere. He keeps coming, he keeps pressing and never gives you half a second, so it was always the preparation even from the goalkeeper coach.
“He always said: ‘You know we play Rooney, he can do anything’. I said: ‘Yeah, unfortunately’. I said: ‘I can’t cheat’, because he will see that, but there’s many ways you can play with people.
“Generally, when you play against the top players, they will always find a way and it becomes challenging. This is what I loved about the Champions League or the Premier League because you play against the best players and it brings the best out of you as well.”
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Cech and Rooney have gone down very different paths since retiring from football in 2019 and 2021 respectively. , playing for the Guildford Phoenix, Chelmsford Chieftains, Belfast Giants and Oxford City Stars.
Rooney, meanwhile, has been trying to forge a career in football management with mixed results. A patchy spell in charge of Derby County was followed by shorter stints at DC United, Birmingham City and most recently Plymouth Argyle.
Since leaving the Pilgrims at the end of last year, Rooney has been out of work but . A punditry role on Match of the Day has also reportedly been earmarked as a potential option.