Karel Poborský

Karel Poborský (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkarɛl ˈpoborskiː] (listen); born 30 March 1972) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He was most noted for his technical ability and pace.

Karel Poborský
Personal information
Full name Karel Poborský
Date of birth (1972-03-30) 30 March 1972
Place of birth Jindřichův Hradec, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Winger
Youth career
1978–1984 TJ Třeboň
1984–1987 České Budějovice
1987–1988 Jiskra Třeboň
1988–1990 České Budějovice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1994 České Budějovice 82 (15)
1994–1995 Viktoria Žižkov 28 (10)
1995–1996 Slavia Prague 26 (11)
1996–1998 Manchester United 32 (6)
1998–2000 Benfica 61 (11)
2000–2002 Lazio 46 (5)
2002–2005 Sparta Prague 87 (26)
2005–2007 České Budějovice 26 (10)
Total 388 (93)
National team
1994–2006 Czech Republic 118 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He began and finished his club career at Dynamo České Budějovice, where his kit number (8) is retired in his honour. He also won the 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.

Club career

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.[1] 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.[2]

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. Whilst at Lazio he played a key role in the destination of the 2001–02 Serie A title. On the final day of the season Inter Milan 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.[3] In July 2002, he returned to his homeland, signing with Sparta Prague, where he became the highest-paid footballer playing in the Czech Republic.[4] 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.[5] He retired on 28 May 2007 after a match against another former side, Slavia Prague.

International career

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.

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.[6] The goal became a trademark shot for Poborský, as that shooting style was soon attributed to him.[7]

In 2008, it was voted the best individual goal in the Carlsberg goal of the day poll on Euro2008.com.[8] As a club player, Poborský scored a similar goal against Porto (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.[9]

Honours

Slavia Prague

Manchester United

Sparta Prague

Czech Republic

Individual

Career statistics

Club
Club League Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other[Note 1] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
České Budějovice Czechoslovak First League 1991–92 260——
1992–93 297——
Czech First League 1993–94 278——
Total 8215——
Viktoria Žižkov Czech First League 1994–95[13] 2710——
1995–96[14] 10——
Total 2810——
Slavia Prague Czech First League 1995–96 261120—112—3913
Manchester United FA Premier League 1996–97[15] 22320216010334
1997–98[16] 10200104000152
Total 325203110010486
Benfica Primeira Divisão 1998–99 195—
1999–2000 295—
2000–01 131—
Total 6111—
Lazio Serie A 2000–01 191—00
2001–02 274——
Total 465—00
Sparta Prague Czech First League 2002–03 298——
2003–04 2811——
2004–05 246——
2005–06 61——
Total 8126——
České Budějovice Czech 2. Liga 2005–06 148———
Czech First League 2006–07 122———
Total 2610——
Career total 38893

International
Source:[17]
Czech Republic national team
YearAppsGoals
199460
199550
1996121
199790
199880
1999111
2000102
2001110
2002101
200382
2004110
2005100
200671
Total1188

International goals
Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
123 June 1996Villa Park, Birmingham Portugal1–01–0Euro 1996
28 September 1999Na Stínadlech, Teplice Bosnia and Herzegovina3–03–0Euro 2000 qualifying
316 June 2000Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges France1–11–2Euro 2000
42 September 2000Georgi Asparuhov Stadium, Sofia Bulgaria1–01–02002 World Cup qualification
516 October 2002Na Stínadlech, Teplice Belarus1–02–0Euro 2004 qualifying
610 September 2003Toyota Arena, Prague Netherlands2–03–1Euro 2004 qualifying
715 November 2003Na Stínadlech, Teplice Canada3–05–1Friendly
81 March 2006İzmir Atatürk Stadium, İzmir Turkey1–02–2Friendly

Notes
  1. Includes the FA Charity Shield and Supercoppa Italiana

References
  1. Turnbull, Simon (7 July 1996). "All aboard gravy train". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  2. "Sporting Heroes". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  3. "Juve's gain is Inter's pain". espn.com. 5 May 2002. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  4. "Poborský bude hrát za své Budějovice" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 23 September 2005. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  5. "Poborský dal dva góly a třetí připravil" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 25 September 2005. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  6. Culley, Jon (24 June 1996). "Poborsky piques Portugal". The Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  7. "Poborsky, a Czech constant". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  8. "Poborský voted best solo strike". UEFA. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  9. Butler, Michael (20 April 2019). "Karel Poborsky: 'They put me into a coma. All my face muscles were paralysed'". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  10. "Karel Poborsky: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  11. uefa.com (25 April 2016). "UEFA EURO 2016 - History – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  12. uefa.com. "UEFA EURO 2004 - History - Statistics – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  13. "SK Slavia Prague stats — 1995". Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  14. "SK Slavia Prague stats — 1996". Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  15. "Games played by Karel Poborsky in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  16. "Games played by Karel Poborsky in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  17. "Karel Poborský – Century of International Appearances". Rsssf.com. 23 July 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
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