Mirror
Petr Cech has named Wayne Rooney as the toughest opponent he ever faced during his distinguished career.
The former Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper hung up his gloves last year, after 15 seasons at the top level of English football.
During that time Cech, 37 came up against all the greats of the modern era, including Thierry Henry, Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez.
But he explained why it was his tussles against Man Utd which always proved the most challenging.
"Wayne Rooney," Cech told Chelsea’s official website. "Every time we played against United I had to make sure I was aware every time he had the ball, because he was very unpredictable and very clever.
"He is a guy who can chase, who can fight, who can run, who is clever with his shot.
"He could score from the halfway line, he could try and chip you if you were too high. That was a challenge I enjoyed."
Cech had good reason to be concerned about his battles with Rooney, considering the striker scored no fewer than 10 times against him in total.
That's hardly bad going, considering Rooney bagged 208 goals in the Premier League alone during his stint in the top-flight.
Both players' careers followed a similar timeline, with Cech joining Chelsea the same year Rooney switched from Everton to United.
Cech's time at Stamford Bridge came to an abrupt end when he was surprisingly allowed to leave on a free at the end of his contract to move to rivals Arsenal.
"When I look back, I’m happy for the good things, I’m obviously not happy with the things that didn’t go exactly as we wanted, but they played an important part, so I wouldn’t change a thing," Cech added.
"It was a great journey. I really enjoyed it. If I had the chance, I would do it all over again."