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The veteran of the Czech national team, Karel Poborsky, confirmed that he is retiring from the national team. The 34-year-old defender hinted at his retirement even before the start of the World Cup.
However, K. Poborsky, who appeared in a record 118 matches for Czech Republic and scored 8 goals, does not promise to completely retire from football and claims he will play another season for the lower league Czech team "Ceske Budejovice."
"I am grateful for my experience in the national team, but it is time to retire. The national team is already a closed chapter in my life. Now, I am just a fan," said the former "Manchester United" star.
K. Poborsky made his debut in the national team in 1994 in a match against Turkey, and since then he became a key player for the team. Czech Republic reached the final of the 1996 European Championship with him in the squad. In that tournament, he scored his memorable first goal in the quarterfinals against Portugal with a stunning lob over the goalkeeper.
Throughout his career, the defender also played for Lisbon's "Benfica," Rome's "Lazio," and Prague's "Slavia" and "Sparta" teams. Last season, he was expelled from the "Sparta" squad due to criticism from the coach and moved to "Ceske Budejovice," where he is the club president and one of the owners.
In this year's World Cup in Germany, Czech Republic, along with K. Poborsky, failed to advance to the next stage, despite a strong start in the group stage match with a 3-0 victory against the US national team. However, they later faced setbacks - an unexpected 0-2 loss to the Ghana team, and a decisive defeat to the eventual World Cup champions, Italy, with a score of 2-0.
