David Pech Makes Emphatic Return to the Pitch: A Journey of Resilience and Determination

31 March 2024, Editorial Board

David Pech returned to the pitch after missing eight months due to an injured knee and flashed a nice goal in the B-team’s big win over Robstav. He talked about his journey back to the pitch with a smile shortly after the final whistle at Xaverov.

After eight months, you returned to the field, the last time you played a general game. How did it feel to run out into the match again?
“It’s been a long time, I’m glad I got back in a pretty good time. I set it up for about eight months. It didn’t matter if I started a week early or late. The main thing is that it worked. I was originally supposed to start only for thirty minutes, but I played the half straight away.”

How do you rate your performance supported by a goal?
“I’m happy for that and the goal scored is the icing on the cake.” I still have a lot of work to do, match condition is something else, my legs were in honey, it was dragging me a bit. It wasn’t bad to start with, but I have to keep pushing.’

And the knee holds? Doesn’t it give you problems?
“It’s great, I can’t feel my knee at all. I have to knock it. I could only feel the muscles, but we will work on that. The first matches and training sessions are difficult. That’s why we chose that minute and I didn’t go from the start of the game.”

Have you been ready for a long time? Were you waiting for the green light from the doctors?
“I’ve been training fully for about a month, maybe a month and a half. I’ve been in team training for three weeks and now we’ve agreed that for the first game it would be better if I start at halftime at the most.”

How did you play? You even started at stopper, looked like you had a lot of appetite and after moving up you even scored…
“I was told right at the break that it wouldn’t be the thirty minutes, that I would go straight to half-time, so I went to warm up. It was lucky that it was already 4:0 and the opponent was at ten, so I had room on the stopper to go forward. Once I got it really bad, so I had to roll back. After fifteen minutes I went to ten and eventually played six.”

What have you had to go through in the eight months since the injury?
“Hell. (laughs) No, I have to praise everyone at Slavia, the physiotherapists, masseurs and everyone who took care of me. The care here is really at a high level. I used to visit Mr. Janousek individually, but mainly he spent a lot of time in Eden. I have to thank Ludvík Maier, who took care of me regularly, we spent a lot of time together. I am grateful to him for that, he does his job really with love, he is really good. At a later stage, the fitness professionals Martin Třasák and Aleš Píta got involved, who have been working on me until now.”

How heavy was it on the head?
“Before the injury, I was probably in the best form I’ve had since coming to Slavia, I threw away the initial stress, played with a clear head, the preparation looked good and I should have started in the first round. Unfortunately, one then discovers that everything can change from one second to the next and suddenly it’s all gone. Let’s value health. The worst was when they told me at the hospital that it was torn ligaments. Waiting for the surgery and the first month where you basically can’t move was also very difficult. Then it’s better, it gave me motivation that I was at least going to the gym and meeting guys.”

And the best moment was now returning to the match?
“It was definitely great. Already at the beginning of January, I was happy to go to the training camp and start training with the ball, then it’s been two months and the difference is enormous. In the three weeks that I’ve been training with the team now, everything has accelerated a lot, but there’s still a lot of room for work.”

What are your plans and ambitions for the rest of the season?
“I’ve played the first half now, we’ll see how it goes. Sometimes less is better than more. We’ll see next week in Pilsen for a B, if I don’t go for maybe 50-60 minutes from the start. During April, I would like to play three full matches for at least B. I am not setting big goals because it looks like the fight for the title may be until the last round. I will work on myself and if there is a chance to start for A, I will be happy, but if I had to finish the season with B, I will not hang my head. The main goal is to be healthy and ready to focus. We have a lot of games coming up in the fall.”