Giant Cech enjoys ‘best day’ as baby joy inspired cup heroics

PETR CECH happily relived the “best day” of his life after he became a father for the first time and took Chelsea to a Wembley cup final.

The giant Czech Republic goalkeeper produced a stunning display to break the hearts of Everton in Wednesday’s Carling Cup semi-final second leg at Goodison Park.

That was even more remarkable given the 25 year-old had barely enjoyed a wink of sleep the night before as he waited anxiously in the team hotel for news of the birth of his new daughter back home in Prague.

And after Chelsea’s 1-0 win — to complete a 3-1 aggregate victory over the Toffees and set up a final against London rivals Tottenham at Wembley on February 24 — Cech dedicated the triumph to his wife Martina and new daughter Adela.

Cech said: “My last 24 hours have been unbelievable. Ahead of the game I was asleep well before midnight, but then I got a call from my wife at 1am to tell me the baby was coming.

“From that moment until the morning I was awake, I was kept informed of how my wife was doing, when the baby was born and then there were many phone calls from my family.

“I was concerned that my wife was okay, and then I realised it was 7.30 in the morning.

“Then I realised I had an important game so I tried to get some sleep. But with all my emotions it was hard to sleep, I could not rest, and if I got three hours sleep, it was a lot.”

He added: “I was so proud of my wife. I really wanted to play in the game with Everton, I had lots of emotions during the game, we were playing well, everything was going fine, we scored a good goal and we won.

“I kept a clean sheet, and played a good game, it is one of the best days of my life. I dedicate the game and victory to my new daughter but especially to my wife because she did all the hard work.

“I would have wanted to be there. I had a plane waiting, but at that time of night it was impossible to fly out to Prague. I was just left sitting in my room knowing I could not help, or aware what was really going on.

“But everything was okay and I am really happy. The victory was just the perfect ending to the day.”

Meanwhile Everton boss David Moyes admits he is still searching for the magic formula to turn his nearly men into champions.

Moyes said: “I want to be able to talk after a big game knowing we have got the right result.

“We now need to find that bit that gets a team in amongst the top four, the bit that gets you the results you need in semi-finals and finals. And to win finals. We must find that bit extra that makes you a top club who always win when it matters.

“We did not play badly. We just need that bit extra to get us right in amongst the best.”