Former Arsenal and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech delivered a man-of-the-match performance on his ice hockey debut by saving two penalties to earn Guildford Phoenix a win against Swindon Wildcats 2.
The 37-year-old, who wore a helmet emblazoned with the logos of both of his former Premier League clubs, was named man of the match after saving Swindon’s first and last efforts in the penalty shootout after three periods and overtime failed to separate the sides.
Phoenix trailed 2-1 after two periods but an equaliser from Taylor Wootton took the game into overtime, and after the additional quarter saw no further goals, Cech emerged as the hero in the shootout.
After the game, he said: “It was a childhood dream for me to play even one game of ice hockey. “I’ve done that now and nobody can take that from me.
“If you have a dream, you chase it and you do everything to make it happen. I’ve done that in football and all my dreams have come true.
“I said, ‘this might be the last dream I was hoping to (achieve)’. But I worked hard for it. I think it can act as something for the young players to know that if you chase your dreams, then good things might happen.”
Cech made the surprising announcement last week that he would play for Phoenix in National Ice Hockey League South 2, despite holding the role as a technical adviser at Chelsea.
But having retired from football after last season’s Europa League final, the Czech has worked on his other sporting passion and rekindled the interest that saw him play ice hockey during his childhood in the Czech Republic.
Having won four Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, the Champions League and Europa League in a decorated professional football career, Cech has taken up a more modest role with Phoenix as a third-choice keeper.
