Arsenal keeper takes positives from red card

Monday, August 6, 2012
5:09 PM

Wojciech Szczesny believes he’ll be a better player after Euro 2012 glooom

Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny believes he is now a more mature goalkeeper after his experiences at Euro 2012, despite getting sent off in the first game and playing no further part in the competition.

The Polish stopper was given his marching orders after 69 minutes of the curtain-raiser between Greece, which ended in a 1-1 draw, and played no further part as his country failed to get out of the group stage.

But the 21-year-old is keen to draw the positives ahead of the new Premier League season, telling the Gunners’ website: “Obviously the sending off is [part of] a learning curve for me and hopefully that will never happen again. But it has made me more mature.

“Before the game I had never felt better in my life. Physically I was really fit and mentally strong and it just shows you that you never know what is around the corner. In that way it made me more mature.”