Čech reacts angrily to blame for early exit from Euro 2008

The Czech footballer Petr Čech has reacted angrily to comments by the former business manager of the national team Vlastimil Košťál, who blamed the Czech Republic’s early exit from Euro 2008 on a mistake by the goalkeeper. Čech issued a statement saying Mr Košťál had been happy enough to take the glory whenever the Czech team was successful and had not behaved like a “team player”. Vlastimil Košťál is one of the most unpopular figures in Czech football. Respected coach Ivan Hašek recently turned down the chance to manage the national team because of Mr Košťál’s role as deputy chairman of the Czech football association.