The prophecy came from Miroslav Beranek, who is in Portugal for Euro 2004 as assistant to the Czechs' enigmatic 64-year-old head coach Karel Brueckner -- the 'other half' of a partnership that has delivered two years of sustained success.

A year later, in the summer of 2002, as a starring member of the Czechs' victorious European Under-21 Championship side, he saved three penalties in the final in Switzerland.

Brueckner, no slouch when it comes to judging talent, promoted him to first-choice for the national side, ousting the respected Pavel Srnicek. Like Beranek, he believed the tall, powerful left-footed keeper had the potential to be world class.

There were a few raised eyebrows at first. The highly-rated Cech was, after all, still only 20. But as the Czechs went on a 20-match unbeaten run that ended in Dublin against Ireland on March 31 this year the doubts soon vanished.

Cech, whose surname actually means Czech, was also soon on the move from Sparta Prague to Rennes. After Euro 2004, he joins Chelsea in the English premier league.

On Tuesday, as he reflected on his rapid rise to fame and fortune, and looked ahead to Thursday's semi-final against Greece in Porto, he returned the three-year-old compliments to his coach and also warned against complacency.

"Up to this point, we have played some good games but I think we can get better still because in our qualification games we played better football than this," he said.

"Before every game, Mr Brueckner gives us a different strategy. He's a very good coach, I think. At this time, maybe he is the best coach in the world.

"Our team spirit is great. For some teams, it would be difficult to be together like this for a whole month but for us it's not a problem. We get on very well and we are happy to be here and we are still having a good laugh together."

Cech also praised those around him for making his transition from ambitious youngster to established goalkeeper much easier.

"Until now, I've been satisfied with my own performance but it's easy for me because I'm playing in a great team," he said.