DBasia.news – Former Czech national team winger Karel Poborsky played for two years with Manchester United in 1996 to 1998. During that time Poborsky managed to win a Premier League and Charity Shield title.
Sir Alex Ferguson recruited Poborsky after his great performance at the 1996 European Cup. Poborsky scored lobbing the ball past Vitor Baia in the quarter-finals when the Czech Republic won 1-0 over Portugal. That became the only goal that was created and was named Poborsky lob afterwards.
The Czech Republic advanced to the final before losing 1-2 to Germany. His great performance brought Poborsky to Old Trafford from Slavia Prague. In his first season Poborsky scored four goals and played 22 times in the Premier League which ended in the league title.
But in the second season the situation changed. The appearance of David Beckham from the academy with his talent and popularity, especially as he came from England, Poborsky’s play time gradually diminished.
The appearance of Beckham and the rejection of Jordi Cruyff, son of Johan Cruyff – an icon of Dutch football – playing on United’s substitute team helped Poborsky stay with United. But in the end he wanted to play regularly and move to Benfica in 1998.
“In the end, I was there only for 18 months. It was almost impossible for me to get a starter place in the lineup of players in front of David Beckham, at the beginning of his extraordinary career. But I was not hurt or vengeful,” explained Poborsky on Goal.
“The players accepted me and I always tried my best, even though I only played for the last 20 minutes of the match. I have no problem playing for the substitute team – Jordi Cruyff refused.”
“When I get the chance to play for the first team, I tried to convince the manager about my quality. My best match might be against Leeds United – I scored one goal, then got selected this month, and made two goals.”
“But every game at Old Trafford is special. We won the league title and I like the celebration. Newcastle gave us the guard of honor and Pavel Srnicek, my international teammate, congratulated me.”
“But I wanted to play regular football. There was a great hope put on me when I play for the Czech Republic. People expected miracles from me, because I play for one of the best clubs in the world, but I lose my rhythm and my appearance is not at the same level. We didn’t qualify for the 1998 World Cup.”
“I sat down with Ferguson and told him that even though I was at the best club in the world, that didn’t make me really happy – I wanted to play regularly. He understood and tried to find me an English club on loan – like Leeds or Sheffield Wednesday – but I signed with Benfica,” concluded Poborsky who retired in 2007.