Mysql characters encoding LIKE,MATCH, utf8?

Mysql characters encoding LIKE,MATCH, utf8?

My character set is utf8 and table/column is utf8_generali_ci, I am
connecting to the database and right after it executing this code
mysqli_query($con, "SET CHARACTER SET utf8"); so then my czech characters,
if not doing this, then my czech characters are like �, but I've
found problem in my search LIKE or MATCH...AGAINST, whenever I try execute
a query like this SELECT * FROMuploadedWHEREfile_name_keywordLIKE
'%ø%'with czech characters I get an error Warning: mysqli_fetch_assoc()
expects parameter 1 to be mysqli_result
So the question is: Is it possible to search for czech characters, and
how? Or do I have to convert them before every input to like ø=>r, è=>c,
ì=>e, š=>s ? Thanks in advance.