Top facts about Karel Poborsky, The Express Train

is a former Czech professional footballer who played as a right winger. He was born on March 30, 1972. He was known for his technical prowess and quickness.

Karel Poborsky’s age

is 49. Here, you can find out the most important facts about Karel Poborsky, the former player.

His uniform number (8) has been retired in his honor at Dynamo Ceské Budjovice, where he started and concluded his club career. He also won the Czech First League with Slavia and Sparta, two of Prague's biggest teams.

An important fact about Karel Poborsky is that he also won the Premier League with

and played for Benfica and Lazio in between these domestic successes.

With 118 games for the Czech national team between 1994 and 2006, Poborsk is second only to Petr Cech in terms of appearances for the country. He retired from international football after appearing in the country's first World Cup.

He also competed in three European Championships, and was chosen to the UEFA Euro 1996 Team of the Tournament after leading the Czech Republic to the final.

Top facts about Karel Poborsky:

Karel Poborsky was named the fourth best Czech footballer of the decade (2000-2010) by the Czech magazine Lidové noviny, and the sixth best Czech footballer of the decade (1993-2003) by Mladá fronta DNES.

The lob goal he scored against Portugal in the 1996 European Championship was voted the best goal of the edition: after passing two opponents, he jumps a third and realizes from the edge of the area a lob that bypasses Vitor Baa and bags in the door.

He was in danger of dying in 2016 because of a tick in his beard that transmitted Lyme disease. He played 82 professional games and scored 15 goals for Ceské Budjovice before moving to Viktoria Zizkov in the 1994-95 season.

Karel Poborsky early life

Regarding

Karel Poborsky’s childhood

, it should be mentioned that he began his football career as a member of TJ Jiskra Tebo in Tebo, South Bohemia, before joining Dynamo Ceské Budjovice in 1984.

Despite returning to Tebo for a year in 1988, he was able to establish himself as a regular player for Dynamo Ceské Budjovice. There is no information about

Karel Poborsky’s parents

.

Karel Poborsky personal life

Karel Poborsky is married and has a son Patrick and a daughter Klára with his wife Marcela. In March 2013, he relocated from his hometown of Hluboká nad Vltavou in southern Bohemia to Prague because of his new girlfriend.

A notable fact about Karel Poborsky is that he and his wife established Poborsky s.r.o. in August 2003, a firm that specializes in real estate and, since February 2006, the hotel business. They bought a home in the heart of eské Budjovice and opened Café Dolcetto there.

Karel Poborsky and Ji Irra founded the firm Poborsky VIII sport, s.r.o. in August 2005, which operates a network of Stevesport sporting goods stores in five Czech cities. Poborsky was a stockholder in this corporation until February 2011.

He stood for the South Bohemian ODS party in the 2012 state elections and came in eighth place. In the elections, he received 2,266 preference votes, jumping from eighth to third position among ODS candidates, and was elected to the Regional Council of the South Bohemia Region.

However, his representative mandate came to an end in March 2013, when he moved from Hluboká nad Vltavou to Prague for personal reasons.

Karel Poborsky professional career

The now 49-year-old called time on his playing career back in 2007. His impressive club CV saw him playing for United, where he won a Premier League medal, as well as enjoying spells at Benfica and Lazio.

Poborsky also won over 100 caps for his country, helping them reach the semi-finals of the Euros in 1996 and 2004.

Karel Poborsky club career

An important fact about Karel Poborsky is that he started his professional career with SK Slavia Prague, FK Viktoria Zizkov, and Ceské Budjovice (the season Patrik Berger left for

).

A notable

fact about Karel Poborsky

is that he was one of a handful of Czech players who departed the nation following the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament to play in another country.

Manchester United

Poborsky signed with Manchester United in July 1996, but because to

's burgeoning prominence, he only lasted one and a half seasons at Old Trafford.

He did, however, win the Premier League championship in 1996–97, appearing in 22 of United's 38 league games and scored four goals while also helping the club reach the Champions League semi-finals.

Benfica

In January 1998, he joined Benfica of the Primeira Divison, where he was in top form, with Joo Pinto, and became an immediate success and fan favorite.

Lazio

A notable fact about Karel Poborsky is that he joined Lazio in Serie A in January 2001 after a streak of strong performances. During his time at Lazio, he was instrumental in the club's Serie A championship triumph in 2001–02.

Inter Milan

Inter Milan faced Lazio on the last day of the season, knowing that a victory would award them the championship. However, Lazio triumphed 4–2, with Poborsky scoring twice, and Juventus took the championship.

Sparta Prague

A notable fact about Karel Poborsky is that he returned to his birthplace in July 2002, signing with Sparta Prague and became the highest-paid player in the Czech Republic.

Budjovice

After that, he returned to his first club, Dynamo Ceské Budjovice, where he scored two goals and set up a third in a 4–0 win against Sigma Olomouc B in his debut encounter. After a match against another former team, Slavia Prague, on May 28, 2007, he announced his retirement.

Karel Poborsky international career

Poborsky's first international match, against Turkey on February 23, 1994, was also the Czech team's first match since Czechoslovakia was divided.

An important fact about Karel Poborsky is that he represented his country in Euro 96, when he was named one of the tournament's most useful players, Euro 2000, and Euro 2004, as well as the 2006 World Cup roster. Poborsk resigned from international participation after the 2006 World Cup.

A notable fact about Karel Poborsky is that he began working as a technical leader for the national squad after retiring from the club in 2007. Poborsky's name is closely associated with his performance in Euro 96, when he chipped the ball and lobbed it over the advancing Vtor Baa during the quarter-final match against Portugal.

Poborsk's shooting technique was instantly credited to him, and the goal became a hallmark shot for him. In the Carlsberg goal of the day poll on Euro2008.com in 2008, it was named the best individual goal. When he was at

, Poborsk scored a similar goal against Porto (again with Vtor Baa as the goalie).

Karel Poborsky legacy and his fantastic goal in Euro

Slavia Prague would have beaten Du Slavia had not won their local league in 49 years; they would this time, but not before dispatching Sturm Graz, Freiburg, Lugano, Lens, and – shockingly – Roma in a European campaign that had gone unnoticed by the casual spectator. Even their final loss to

did not add much to the tale.

The need to uncover the next "I told you so" had not yet reached fevered proportions – nor, it should be noted, had eastern European leagues degenerated to the degree they have now – so Slavia's flirtation with the top drew just a few glances from outside the country.

It wasn't the kind of location where you'd search for signs of grandeur, for hints that somewhere in the results, which you could only discover in a newspaper if you squinted hard enough, was a memory that would become global. It would be something for the curio store when the time came: an exotic gift with an obscure origin.

The clues, however, were hidden deep inside. Today, English television channels might have shown the dramatic last-16 tie with Lens, which was won by an impossibly quick young winger; they would have certainly been paying closer attention in the next round, when the same player deceived

goalkeeper Giovanni Cervone with a deep, in-swinging free-kick.

Chelsea supporters may have connected the dots today and recalled the well-coiffed striker who had earned a penalty for young Viktoria Zizkov the previous season.

So Karel Poborsky had signaled that the unexpected was on the horizon, but he found himself in the same predicament as Schrödinger's cat, mostly hidden from view.

Even though the promise of their former team-mate, Borussia Dortmund's Patrik Berger, had starred in various preview pieces, five of his Slavia team-mates joined him in traveling to England for Euro 96; all were considered blank pages in the eyes of a buoyant, expectant English public preoccupied with its own moment in time – even if the promise of their former team-mate, Borussia Dortmund's Patrik Berger, had starred in various preview pieces.

The Czechs had done well to qualify for the tournament, finishing above of Holland in their group, and, with the old Czechoslovakia having been tournament regulars, they seemed to be in the odd situation of giving minimal novelty value but scarcely having a household name.

Poborsky is the first to be panned past by the camera before their first group game, against

at a significantly under-capacity Old Trafford.

Then his Slavia team-mate, the blond, impassable Radek Bejbl; and next to him, the quiffed, cheekboned Pavel Nedved, whose Sparta Prague side had made it to the Uefa Cup's last 16. All would go on to spend lengthy days in the sun, but their pictures burnt into few retinas right immediately after a 2-0 setback. At halftime, Poborsky was replaced by Berger.

The first huge indication was provided five days later at Anfield. Poborsky cut back to his left foot and crossed beautifully for Nedved to handle and score the game's first goal against World Cup runner-up Italy. Bejbl then swished a first-time shot past Angelo Peruzzi with the scores leveled but the Italians down to ten men. The tournament's first genuine surprise: it attracted attention.

At the very least, a bit. The last group game, against Russia, was not broadcast live since there was no red button, no kind of simulcast in 1996, and Italy was on the verge of being eliminated if they lost to Germany.

The game's six goals were broadcast in what were at least regular dispatches while the heavyweights grinded out a 0-0 draw in front of a desultory 21,128 in Liverpool; everyone else caught the game's six goals in what were at least regular dispatches while watching the heavyweights grind out a 0-0 draw.

The last goal, scored by Slavia's Vladimir Smicer, took the Czechs through, skittled the Italians, and would be the tournament's most dramatic intervention until the one at Wembley that ended their, and everyone else's, summer.

Euro 96, like Italia 90, was not a tournament with a lot of goals. Despite the Czechs' ding-dong with the Russians, the group stage averaged 2.3 goals per game, and that was as good as it got — just nine goals would be scored in the seven knockout games.

There had previously been a tournament of chips and dinks, with Paul Gascoigne's knock over Colin Hendry stealing the show, and Davor Suker defeating Peter Schmeichel with a goal as famous for its typical feting by Barry Davies.

You can't go around it, you can't get through it, therefore you'll have to go over it. Portugal had only surrendered once in their first three games and looked powerful in attack under Antonio Oliveira.

Paulo Sousa,

, and

were 25, 24, and 23 years old at the time, respectively, and formed a midfield whose lack of monetary compensation now seems like a crime.

Many of Portugal's near misses over the years have been attributed to the lack of a reliable center forward, but Ricardo Sa Pinto and Joao Pinto had both found some form in the tournament's early stages, and there was little reason to believe that this could not continue in their quarter-final against the Czechs, who had come through their group with a goal difference of -1.

On paper, this was the least exciting last-eight tie, which was reflected in the low attendance of 26,832 at Villa Park on June 23. The previous three had only produced three goals, all of which had come in Germany's 2-1 victory against Croatia earlier that day.

In Birmingham, there was little immediate excitement; Portugal were sinuous and graceful, as predicted, but opportunities were sparse in the first half, with Petr Kouba's stop to deny Joo Pinto providing the only genuine scare for a focused Czech defense.

There had been none of the Slavia-inspired magic yet, but Dusan Uhrin substituted Lubos Kubik for Smicer at halftime, and the Czechs immediately appeared more forceful in midfield. Kubik was 32 and playing for FK Drnovice at the time, but would rejoin Slavia after the campaign.

Euro 96 seemed to be on the verge of becoming confirmation that, as Philip Larkin put it, "nothing, like anything, occurs everywhere."

Then came the moment that was both a surprise and a bolt from the blue on those two levels. Poborsky had slipped infield from his right wing-back position and collected a pass from Jiri Nemec, who had carried the ball into the Portuguese half under little pressure.

He'd taken up a 40-yard position between Figo and Rui Costa, who had both been eliminated by Nemec's pass, and the more defensively-challenging duo of Oceano and Paulo Sousa on the goal side.

Poborsky's initial touch did not move the ball out of his feet, and there was still not much room to work with. He took off nonetheless, sneaking between Sousa and Oceano, the latter responding too late and tackling the ball against his teammate after Poborsky had half-passed him.

The ricochet from Oceano landed precisely on Poborsky, but there was still the question of a central defense to contend with. There should have been, at the very least.

Fernando Couto had sensed the danger at the outset of the play and had moved out of the defensive line even before Poborsky had bundled between the two in front of him. Oceano and Sousa were the favorites to sandwich Poborsky out at this point, despite the fact that the ball was not to fall for them.

Couto was just too near to foresee Poborsky's fortuitous bounce; the Czech's momentum, along with his opponent's over-ambitious stance, had carried him past Portugal's top centre-back.

As Poborsky flees, the television camera catches a glimpse of Sousa's peculiar response, in which he seems to turn away from the game in fury, as if berating someone behind him. It seemed to be the type of reaction a player would have after conceding a goal, but there was no reason to forecast what would happen next unless Sousa had done his studies to levels much above teacher's pet levels.

Couto's rashness, on the other side, had given Poborsky the initiative, and he could now advance into the penalty area. The next obstacle to overcome was Helder, the left-sided centre-back, who had been obliged to switch over and take Couto's place.

Because of the time it took, Poborsky was able to make a choice for the first time in the series. Helder was six yards ahead of him and not quite set; Secretário, the right-back, was tucking in but still a few yards to Poborsky's left.

Helder could undoubtedly be challenged, but Couto and Oceano were returning, and the odds were that one of the four opponents in his area would challenge him in the split seconds wasted by rounding the player in front of him.

There was also space to get a shot off, but without too much backlift, which Helder predicted when Poborsky ran the ball a yard into the penalty area, still sideways to the action.

In the space provided, his slide to block would have likely done enough to deflect most attempts on goal. The ball was already a metre over Helder's head and rising as he dove in, arms up.

From his vantage point, he couldn't see what had occurred; for the easily startled, a replay or two would be required to prove that the ball had not merely clipped him. Given the cover still available, there was little need for goalkeeper Vitor Baia to remain eight yards off his line, and Poborsky, who looked aloft a minute before taking aim, had his choice made for him.

If Baia had stayed immobile, resigned to the ball's destiny as soon as it glided above him, the goal would have been flawless.

He did, however, give pursuit for a little period, by which time it had plummeted like a stone beyond his goal line. Poborsky's shot may be lumped in with the more typical iterations of the phrase, essentially cushioned half-volleys; it wasn't a chip, even if that is how he subsequently called it, since his boot had not scuffed into the ground and there was no dependence on spin.

By using what can only be described as a scoop, Poborsky was able to find the proper height and trajectory.

It was entirely strange in execution, if not in idea, to most onlookers, but perhaps the most revealing element was Poborsky's stare up towards Baia: this target had not been born of instinct or necessity, but had been chosen as carefully as an eight iron by a golfer in the rough from Poborsky's arsenal.

Despite a late scare when Jorge Cadete stole a free header away from fellow replacement Domingos Paciencia, the Czechs won the game.

Though Poborsky's prior work had been a tree falling in the arctic, this had all the resonance of an oak being toppled in Hyde Park – and vocal, if unhappily not visual, proof that he had form for comparable achievements in the domestic league too. Life will never be the same after what happened to Uhrin's squad.

Poborsky exuded the indifference of a guy who had no idea what all the hoopla was about after the game. "To tell you the truth, I was quite convinced that was going to be a goal."

"I just hope the ball didn't soar as high as the keeper over the goal," he told Czech television. When asked whether his bolt from the blue had sparked wild rejoicing, he shrugged and said that he "had a supper, drank a glass and a half of beer, and went to sleep" in the hours that followed.

Poborsky's goal, whether or not Alex Ferguson had found the footage of those famous Uefa Cup nights, seemed to provide the final cue for a move to Old Trafford; he was always going to be one of the hottest tickets in Europe now and, whether or not

had found the footage of those famous Uefa Cup nights, his goal seemed to provide the final cue for a move to Old Trafford.

He never seemed to fit in in Manchester — was it because he wasn't good enough? Was it because, according to his own assessment, he didn't learn English well enough? – but things got back on track with transfers to Joo Pinto's Benfica and a

team that contained Fernando Couto. The consequences of the scoop will never leave him.

That didn't sit well with Poborsky, who was a quiet type who avoided discussing the aim in later years. "I'd rather be known as a decent player than a one-hit wonder," he told Czech daily MF DNES in 2008, after his team was chosen the greatest in the history of the European Championship.

The player's feeling of well-being appeared to be at conflict with the dazzling lights of Manchester, which were thrust upon him so fast.

"I just wanted to hide," he said. "I just wanted everyone to leave me alone. I wanted to be with my family or hire a canoe and paddle down the [River] Vltava with some buddies. Instead, I was bombarded with the same questions over and again: how did you come up with the concept for a chip? What kind of fame did it bring you?"

He wasn't really hindered in the long term. By September 2003, he was back in Prague, this time with Sparta, and channeling the spirit of '96 in a Euro 2004 qualifier against

. He posed the hypothetical question, "Will the goal be as legendary as the one against Portugal?" "It's up to you, the press."

It wasn't, and it still isn't – partially because it was technically a chip, but mostly because Poborsky had done something never done before in the mainstream with his scoop 18 years earlier.

Karel Poborsky’s wasted potential at Manchester United

The immediate aftermath of a big football tournament usually causes a frenetic rush of transfer activity, with teams hastily attempting to grab up the tournaments most talked about talents.

As perspiring managers are dazzled by the new'must have' craze, long-thought-out, meticulously prepared scouting techniques are thrown out the window. It's the equivalent of seeing "The Karate Kid" for the first time and then searching your neighborhood for a small elderly Japanese guy eager to offer you unconventional martial arts instruction.

It occurred after the 2002 World Cup, when the must have item for the upcoming season became a Senegal International football player. The European market went berserk when they surprisingly reached the quarter final stage, and half of the Senegalese squad ended up to some of the greatest clubs in the world.

Most of them eventually failed to replicate the form that drew public notice in the first place, but for a limited period of time, supporters of teams that had signed these 'tournament heroes' started to fantasize and bathe themselves in hope.

A good illustration of this is Karel Poborsky's stint at Manchester United. However, if rumors are to be accepted, Sir Alex Ferguson had already agreed to sign the right winger before he blasted into the faces of the viewing public at 'Euro 96.'

If this is the truth, Fergie must have almost choked on his chewing gum in joy while riveted to the TV with a drink of Scotch in hand, marveling at his little Czech signing's abilities. During 'Euro 96,' the Czech Republic was one of the surprise packages, with Poborsky perhaps his country's finest player.

Poborsky had produced one of the tournament's best goals, audaciously'scoop lobbing' Portugal's Vitor Baia in a place that was about to become his new home, and the omens seemed bright for Manchester United.

Poborsky's only issue was that another miraculous goal, this time from a Manchester United player, signaled the start of his demise. Mr David Beckham scored a goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon only a month after Poborsky had officially joined for the club.

Poborsky's slightly medieval appearance barely lasted a year and a half at Old Trafford. He only played 32 games and scored 5 goals after joining for £3.5 million. It wasn't because his performances were abysmal; it was because he was no longer required.

He would have been a big success if he had been able to persuade Ferguson that he was a better player than the on-the-rise David Beckham. Fergie, happily for England supporters, did not see it that way. Poborsky departed old Trafford with a League Champions medal and a run to the semifinal of the Champions League.

When you consider that none of his 'Euro 96' magic was replicated, and that another summer acquisition at the time, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, went on to have a very successful United career despite not being a regular starter, he has to be classified as a bust.

Before returning to his hometown, the Czech winger had more successful spells with Benfica and Lazio. After repeating his infamous 'scoop lob' against Vitor Baia for the second time in his career, he became a fan favorite at Benfica. He is also the most capped player in his country.

Some more facts about Karel Poborsky:

In Zizkov, he formed a department with Tomá Krejk and Tibor Janula, scoring ten goals each, accounting for half of the team's total (61 in all). Poborsky leads the team to fifth place in the league and to the national cup final, where they were defeated on penalties by Hradec Králové 3-1.

The following season, he moved to Slavia Prague, where he scored 11 goals and finished fourth in the top scorers, helping Slavia defeat rival Sparta Prague and win their first Czech title.

After breaking into the international spotlight with the Czech Republic during the 1996 European Championship, he was signed by Manchester United the following summer, where he played for a season and a half, winning the English championship in 1996-1997.

He makes 32 appearances and scores 5 goals for the Red Devils, for whom he also wins two Community Shields.

In 1996, he was ranked seventeenth in the FIFA World Player of the Year ranking with 6 votes, alongside Youri Djorkaeff and Dejan Savievic; the same year, he was also ranked eleventh in the France Football Ballon d'Or ranking with 15 votes, the best result for a Czech after Josef Masopust and

.

An important

fact about Karel Poborsky

is that he joined Benfica, a Portuguese club, in January 1998. He spent three seasons with the Lusitanians, making 61 appearances and scoring 11 goals while finishing in various league positions.

In January 2001, he joined the Italians of Lazio, where he stayed for the rest of the season.

The double achieved at Inter on the final day of the 2001-2002 championship, in a match won by the Biancocelesti 4-2 and which, in fact, awarded the Scudetto to Juventus to the detriment of the Nerazzurri, who, having reached the final 90 'of the season from first in the standings, then finished the tournament in third place, stands out as the highlight of his Serie A career.

When he returned to his homeland in the summer of 2002, he played for Sparta Prague for three seasons, winning two championships and the Czech Republic Cup in 2004.

After some disagreements with the manager, he was loaned to Ceské Budjovice, a second division team he also owns and with whom he began his career, at the start of the 2005-2006 season.

With his help in the second round, the team jumped from mid-table to first place, resulting in an unexpected promotion to the first division. He played little in the 2006-2007 season due to a serious injury, which ended his competitive career on May 29, 2007.

With the Czech national team, he competed in three European championships, in 1996 - an event in which he was one of the protagonists of the Czechs who finished second, going on the net in the quarterfinals against

, at the same time realizing his first goal in the national team - in 2000 - an event in which he recalls a play against Denmark, where in a slide at the level of the back line he blocked a throw from a teammate having then the ball.

A notable

fact about Karel Poborsky

is that he left the national team with 118 appearances and 8 goals, second only to Petr Cech in terms of games played.

The Czech Football Association offered him the position of national team coach in June 2007. He later becomes the president of Dyn. Budjovice, the team that launched him as a football player. In March 2019, UEFA named him as one of the ambassadors for the 2020 European Championship.

An important fact about Karel Poborsky is that he was placed in a medically induced coma in 2016 after acquiring a brain illness that left his facial muscles paralyzed and hypersensitive to light.

He was isolated in hospital for three weeks before recovering fully, but he believes he would have died if he had arrived a day later.

Karel Poborsky social media

Regarding

Karel Poborsky social media

, it should be mentioned that he does not have any pages on any social media platforms.

Karel Poborsky body measurements

Speaking about

Karel Poborsky body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the former player is 184cm and 78kg.

Karel Poborsky net worth and salary

Karel Poborsky’ net worth

is estimated to be from $4 million to $5 million dollars. From his major profession as a soccer player, he has amassed a substantial fortune.

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