Petr Cech Quotes

Teams are always hitting me in the gut, trying to grab me when I jump and stuff like that. But I expect it.

I'm always a player who has taken fairly rough treatment, to be honest. I think my time in Scotland typified that because I think there was one game where I set a record for being fouled ten or 11 times in a game.

I am a physical player, no doubt about that, but a dirty player? That's not my reputation.

I'm a massive fan of Didier Drogba, I love the way he plays. He's not as stacked as me but he's strong and he's still scoring goals. I'm a fan of Diego Costa as well. I think he crosses the line at times but I like the fact he doesn't allow himself to be bullied.

I like to bump people, to feel me getting into somebody's jersey. I'm just different. I like contact, like physical play, like pushing and holding. But I'm not dirty.

I love offensive physicality.

I never want to hurt a player but being physical is different. Body to body.

Football is my base; that's where I learned to be tough. I was a strong safety, and that's what I do: I hit people. The mentality is football, the wrestling is precision.

Definitely, I got a reputation growing up playing on the guys' hockey teams. The guys knew how tough I was because I played with them. I got quite a good reputation for beating up boys going up through school.

I get lots of fouls on me, but it is no foul because I am physical. Because I don't go down, that is the problem as well. But I will keep playing my game. Why would I change? It's my game.

Malice is part of football, I wouldn't call it illegitimate.

When we were playing, it was rough and tough. Even superstars like me fouled out a lot.

Hard fouls are a part of playoff basketball, and I think that's how basketball should be. I don't take those fouls personally.

You can't tap somebody in the helmet and say, 'Go be physical.' If you're not physical, you can't play physical, and that's a big part of what we believe in.

Of course the defenders are trying to be physical with me. They look at me, 7-3, skinny, they try to be physical.

I grew up thinking a bit of pushing and shoving was completely normal. Then I suddenly learned that if you kick another player, you get in trouble. Nobody had ever reprimanded me for that before.

Some of my best tackles were the most dangerous!

I've always been a physical player.

You know that when you come to England, there are a lot of players who like to play a more physical game.

There's shouting, there's blood, there's boogers, there's a whole thing. I mean, there's spitting, there's fighting, there's ripped jerseys. There's someone grabbing someone's throat. I mean, it's why you have football.

Premier League players are a lot cleverer, but they don't like being roughed up. They're not used to that.

In England, the referees don't call many fouls, as opposed to Spanish football. Consequently, you must be really strong all through the 90 minutes.

In football, there is always friction, collisions, contact. But I am used to that.

Soccer is a man's game, not an outing for mamby-pambies.

I like to get down there and get physical. I like to get down there and try to show my strength, try to be a macho man.