Karel Poborský (; born 30 March 1972) is a Czech former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was most noted for his technical ability and pace. He began and finished his club career at

Dynamo České Budějovice "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundat ...

, where his kit number (8) is retired in his honour. He also won the

Czech First League The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Seasons typically r ...

titles at the two largest clubs in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

- Slavia and

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

. Between these domestic triumphs, he won a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

title at Manchester United and also played for Benfica and

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. After

Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as ...

, Poborský ranks second in appearances for the Czech national team, with 118 between 1994 and 2006, retiring from international football after playing at the country's first World Cup. He also played in three European Championships, being named in the Team of the Tournament at

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

after helping the Czechs to the final.

Club career

Poborský began playing professionally with

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; german: Budweis ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 93,000 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is t ...

, FK Viktoria Žižkov and

SK Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

(the season

Patrik Berger Patrik Berger (; born 10 November 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his career in his own country with Slavia Prague and spent a season in Germany playing for Borussia Dortmund. He moved to ...

left for

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

). Poborský was one of a number of the Czech squad at

who left the Czech Republic to play in another country after the tournament. In July 1996 he signed with Manchester United but, due to David Beckham's rising stardom, Poborský would only manage one-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford. He did collect a

title winner's medal in the 1996–97 season, however, playing in 22 out of 38 league games and scoring four goals, also helping United reach the Champions League semi-finals. In January 1998, he left for Primeira Divisão side Benfica, where he was at his best form, playing alongside João Pinto, and became an instant hit and a fan favourite. After a string of impressive performances, Poborský moved sides in January 2001, joining

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

. Whilst at Lazio he played a key role in the destination of the

2001–02 Serie A The 2001–02 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 100th season of top-tier Italian football, the 70th in a round-robin tournament. It was composed by 18 teams, for the 14th consecutive time from season 1988–89. ...

title. On the final day of the season

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

were playing at Lazio knowing a win would give them the title. However Lazio won 4–2, with Poborský scoring twice, and the title went to Juventus instead. In July 2002, he returned to his homeland, signing with

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

, where he became the highest-paid footballer playing in the Czech Republic. He subsequently returned to his first club, Dynamo České Budějovice, scoring two goals and setting up a third on the way to a 4–0 victory against Sigma Olomouc B in his first match. He retired on 28 May 2007 after a match against another former side, Slavia Prague.

International career

Poborský's first international appearance, against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

on 23 February 1994, was also the first match for the Czech team after the partition of Czechoslovakia. He played for his country at

Euro 96 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

, where he was one of the most valuable players of the entire tournament,

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, and

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

, and was also in the nation's squad for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. After the 2006 World Cup, Poborský retired from international competition. Following his 2007 club retirement, Poborský started working as a technical leader for the national team.

Poborský lob

Poborský's name is often attached to his performance in Euro 96, where during the quarter-final match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, he chipped the ball and lobbed it over the advancing

Vítor Baía Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH (; born 15 October 1969) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, his career was intimately connected with FC Porto, which he started re ...

. The goal became a trademark shot for Poborský, as that shooting style was soon attributed to him. In 2008, it was voted the best individual goal in the '' Carlsberg goal of the day'' poll on Euro2008.com. As a club player, Poborský scored a similar goal against

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

(again with Vítor Baía as the goalkeeper) while at Benfica.

Personal life

In 2016, Poborský was put into a medically-induced coma after contracting a brain infection that left the muscles in his face paralysed and with a hypersensitivity to light. He spent three weeks quarantined in hospital before making a full recovery, but he said if he had arrived at the hospital a day later, he might have died.

Career statistics

Club

Notes

International

:''Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Poborský goal''.

Honours

Slavia Prague *

: 1995–96 Manchester United * FA Premier League: 1996–97 * FA Charity Shield: 1996,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Sparta Prague *Czech First League: 2002–03, 2004–05 *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup ( cs, Pohár FAČR), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 19 ...

: 2003–04 Czech Republic *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

runner-up: 1996 * FIFA Confederations Cup third place:

Individual * Czech Footballer of the Year: 1996 (shared with

) *Czech First League Best eleven of the season: 1995–96, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05 *UEFA Team of the Tournament:

*Top assist provider: UEFA Euro 1996 (3 assists, shared with

Youri Djorkaeff Youri Raffi Djorkaeff (born 9 March 1968) is a French former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. Throughout his club career, he played for teams in France, Italy, Germany, England, and the United States. A ...

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

(4 assists) *Czech Footballer of the Year personality of the Czech First League: 2003, 2004, 2005

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poborsky, Karel 1972 births Living people People from Třeboň Sportspeople from the South Bohemian Region Czech footballers Association football midfielders FIFA Century Club Czech First League players Premier League players Primeira Liga players Serie A players FK Viktoria Žižkov players SK Slavia Prague players SK Dynamo České Budějovice players AC Sparta Prague players Manchester United F.C. players S.L. Benfica footballers S.S. Lazio players Czech Republic international footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Czech expatriate footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Czech expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Czech expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal