The creative midfielder was born and bred in the Czech
capital and with his father and brother also playing for
Sparta in some capacity, Rosicky has stronger emotional
ties to the club than most.
The 26-year-old is the fruit of the Sparta academy and
went on to make over 40 appearances for the club on his
way to stardom.
When Arsenal were drawn to play the Czech giants in the
qualifying stage of the Champions League, Rosicky knew
that a return to the Axa Arena would be an emotional
experience.
“It was really strange for me because I grew up there
and Sparta prepared me for my future career. I really
did not want to play against them,” he told Arsenal.com.
However the midfielder did start the match and was an
integral part of the squad that battled their way to a
2-0 win against Sparta. Rosicky was substituted with ten
minutes to go, and received a warm reception from the
home side.
“It was a good result for us, but we are still not
there. We have to make the second step. They are very
aggressive, and we will need to do well again in the
other leg. We have to stay focused,” commented Rosicky.
“It was great that Cesc and Alex scored again [against
Sparta]. I hope that next time I will be there as well,
but the most important thing was that we won and we now
have one foot in the Champions League.”
The Czech international knows that if Arsenal are to be
a success this season, he will need to stay fit and
avoid the niggling injuries that disrupted his form last
season.
“I just want to stay healthy,” he said “I feel that if I
can stay injury-free, then I can be an important player
for Arsenal.
“Last season, whenever I felt great, I got injured which
was difficult for me. Now I feel OK again and we know
that we have to score from midfield more.”
Source: Goal.com
