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ESPN staff 9y

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech played as left winger before broken leg

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has revealed that he started his career as a left winger.

Cech, 33, brought to an end 11 years with Chelsea this summer after signing for Arsenal for £11 million.

The Czech Republic international is considered one of Europe's best shot-stoppers, but he could have been an outfield player had it not been for a serious injury.

Cech told Arsenal Magazine: "I never thought of being a goalkeeper. I was an ice hockey goalkeeper and when I started playing football, I was a midfielder or a left winger.

"Occasionally at the end of training sessions, when you had a free game with no keeper, where the deepest player acted as a goalkeeper, sometimes I went into goal because I wanted to see the difference between a big goal and a small ice hockey goal.

"My coach saw me a few times and one day, our goalkeeper didn't come for a game. We had no keeper and somebody had to play there, but nobody really wanted to. He pointed to me and said 'I've seen you a few times in goal and you've been doing quite well. You should try it.'

"I said I would do it for one match and we ended up having a very good game. The next day, when I came for the training session, the goalkeeping coach took me and said that I should stay with him.

"But then my coach didn't want to listen to that. For about a year, I was playing outfield or in goal depending on the opponents.

"Then when I was about 10 I broke my leg quite badly and the recovery took time. I couldn't run and I had pain for quite a long time.

"Being in goal means you can sit, you can lie, you can catch balls and you can still work and train. That made the biggest difference in my life because that moment defined that I stayed in goal."

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