Karel Poborský

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Personal information
Karel Poborský
Date of birth	March 30, 1972
Place of birth	Třeboň, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 in)
Nickname	Cesky
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Dynamo České Budějovice
Number	8
Youth clubs
1978-1984 1984-87 1987-88 1988-90	TJ Třeboň Dynamo České Budějovice Jiskra Třeboň Dynamo České Budějovice
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1991-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1998-2001 2001-02 2002-05 2005-	Dynamo České Budějovice Viktoria Žižkov Slavia Praha Manchester United Benfica Lazio Sparta Praha Dynamo České Budějovice	82 (15) 28 (10) 26 (11) 32 (5) 61 (11) 47 (5) 87 (26) 0 (0)
National team**
1994-2006	Czech Republic	118 (8)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 26, 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of June 22, 2006.

Karel Poborský (born March 30, 1972 in Třeboň) is a Czech footballer, who is the all-time leader in appearances for the Czech national team.

1 Clubs
2 Manchester United
3 Benfica success
4 The Poborský-lob

[edit] Clubs

Poborský has played for Slavia Praha, Manchester United, Benfica, Lazio, Sparta Praha and currently plays for Dynamo České Budějovice, the club where he started his professional career with. His first international appearance, against Turkey on February 23, 1994, was also the first match for the Czech team after the partition of Czechoslovakia. He played for his country at Euro 96, Euro 2000, and Euro 2004, and was in the Czech Republic's World Cup squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup after which he retired from international competition.

[edit] Manchester United

Many Manchester United fans were amazed with Karel's great skill they even compared him to some of the biggest names in Czech Football. He played one season there were he formed an amazing patnership with Éric Cantona, but due to the rising star of David Beckham, Karel left for another giant Benfica.

[edit] Benfica success

At Benfica Poborský was at his best form along side João Vieira Pinto,he became an instant hit and a fan favourite.

[edit] The Poborský-lob

Poborský's name is often attached to his performance in Euro 96, where during a quarter-final match against Portugal, during a Czech attack, he cold-headedly chipped the ball and lobbed it over the advancing Vítor Baía, not entirely unlike one of his predecessors, Antonín Panenka. The goal became a trademark shot for Poborský, and shot-style soon began to be attributed to him.

Another one of Poborský's lob-shots was against FC Porto while he was at Benfica. At the time 120,000 fans roared on when Benfica equalized against FC Porto.

	Czech Republic squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Čech \| 2 Grygera \| 3 Mareš \| 4 Galásek \| 5 Kováč \| 6 Jankulovski \| 7 Sionko \| 8 Poborský \| 9 Koller \| 10 Rosický \| 11 Nedvěd \| 12 Lokvenc \| 13 Jiránek \| 14 Jarolím \| 15 Baroš \| 16 Blažek \| 17 Štajner \| 18 Heinz \| 19 Polák \| 20 Plašil \| 21 Ujfaluši \| 22 Rozehnal \| 23 Kinský \| Coach: Brückner