Karel Poborský

Karel Poborský (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkarɛl ˈpoborskiː]) (born 30 March 1972) is a retired Czech professional footballer who played as a right winger. He was most noted for his technical ability.
He began and finished his club career at České Budějovice, also winning Czech First League titles at the two largest clubs in Prague, Slavia and Sparta. Between these domestic triumphs, he won a Premier League title at Manchester United and also played for Benfica and Lazio.
After Petr Čech, 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 after helping the Czechs to the final.

Poborský began playing professionally with České Budějovice, FK Viktoria Žižkov and SK Slavia Prague (the season Patrik Berger left for Borussia Dortmund).

Poborský was one of a number of the Czech squad at UEFA Euro 1996 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 Premier League 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 Portuguese Liga 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's Lazio. In July 2002, he returned to his homeland, signing with Sparta Prague, 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.

Poborský's first international appearance, against Turkey 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, where he was one of the most valuable players of Czech national team and even the whole tournament, scoring there his well-known "Poborský lob", Euro 2000, and Euro 2004, and was also in the nation's squad for the 2006 World Cup, where his performances was far below, due to his age and contract with České Budějovice, which played "only" Czech 2. Liga. 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.

The Poborský-lob

Poborský's name is often attached to his performance in Euro 96, where during the quarter-final match against Portugal, he chipped the ball and lobbed it over the advancing Vítor Baía. 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 (again with Vítor Baía as the goalkeeper) while at Benfica.

Club

Slavia Prague

• Czech First League: 1995–96

Manchester United

• Premier League: 1996–97
• FA Charity Shield (2): 1996, 1997

Sparta Prague

• Czech First League (2): 2002–03, 2004–05
• Czech Cup: 2003–04

Country

Czech Republic

• UEFA European Championship: Runner-up 1996
• FIFA Confederations Cup: Third place 1997
• All-time leader in appearances for Czech national team (118)

Individual

• Czech Footballer of the Year: 1996 (shared with Patrik Berger)
• UEFA Team of the Tournament: UEFA Euro 1996
• Czech First League Best eleven of the season (4): 1995–96, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
• Czech Footballer of the Year personality of the Czech First League (3): 2003, 2004, 2005
• All stars team of Sparta Prague between the period 1980–2010
• 4th best Czech footballer of the decade (2000–10) by the readers of Czech journal Lidové noviny
• 6th best Czech footballer of the decade (1993–03) by the readers of Czech journal Mladá fronta DNES

• lidovky.cz. "Fotbalista desetiletí – nezničitelný Nedvěd: ten, co okouzlil Itálii". Sportreport.lidovky.cz. Retrieved 13 March 2012. 
• "Nedvěd se stal fotbalistou desetiletí". Mladá fronta DNES. Czech Republic. 28 May 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2012. 

International goals

Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	23 June 1996	Villa Park, Birmingham	Portugal	1–0	1–0	Euro 1996
2	8 September 1999	Na Stínadlech, Teplice	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–0	3–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
3	16 June 2000	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges	France	1–1	1–2	Euro 2000
4	2 September 2000	Georgi Asparuhov Stadium, Sofia	Bulgaria	1–0	1–0	2002 World Cup qualification
5	16 October 2002	Na Stínadlech, Teplice	Belarus	1–0	2–0	Euro 2004 qualifying
6	10 September 2003	Toyota Arena, Prague	Netherlands	2–0	3–1	Euro 2004 qualifying
7	15 November 2003	Na Stínadlech, Teplice	Canada	3–0	5–1	Friendly
8	1 March 2006	İzmir Atatürk Stadium, İzmir	Turkey	1–0	2–2	Friendly