PETR CECH has led tributes to his late Czech Republic team-mate Josef Sural, who died in a bus crash.
The 28-year-old was travelling with Alanyaspor team-mates in Turkey when a VIP mini bus crashed last night.
Striker Sural later died in hospital of his injuries.
The father of two was a team-mate of Cech at Euro 2016 and picked up 20 caps for the Czech Republic over a six-year period.
Cech posted on his Instagram: “Very sad news from this morning. RIP Josef Sural.”
The Czech FA tweeted: “The Football Association of the Czech Republic has accepted with great grief the news that the representative striker Josef Sural died tragically in Turkey.
“We’ll never forget you, Pepo!”
Ex-Spurs defender Steven Caulker and former Newcastle ace Papiss Cisse were also injured in the disaster.
The striker had fractures in his head and in some parts of his body, and was taken to intensive care.
Tragically he was pronounced dead after doctors treated his injuries.
Club chairman Hasan Cavusoglu claimed the driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel.
He said: “According to information I received from our police chief, despite there being two drivers on the vehicle, they were both asleep.
“The crash happened as a result of them both being asleep.”
A Turkish news agency claims the driver has been detained, according to Reuters.
The 370-mile journey from Kadir Has Stadium in Kayseri takes around seven hours by road to Alanya.
Czech international Sural played 20 times for his country, including all three of their group games at Euro 2016 where they finished bottom of their group with a single point.
