On a sunny afternoon in Birmingham at Euro 96, Karel Poborsky — until then a Czech Republic squad player known as much for his hair as his flair — took possession of the ball around 40 yards out during the quarter-final against Portugal.
What happened next meant Poborsky would be more than an interesting haircut.
The 24-year-old produced a moment of magic, a goal of such imagination — with a little luck — that his life and career changed forever. Poborsky went to the tournament as a Slavia Prague player. After it, he was on his way to Manchester United.
Karel Poborsky's superb goal for Czech Republic against Portugal at Euro 96 changed his life
There was more to Poborsky’s £3.6million transfer to Old Trafford than one goal, but it was the showcase.
It came 53 minutes into a hitherto goalless game at Villa Park. Receiving the ball on the left, the right-footed Poborsky was amid four red Portuguese shirts. As Rui Costa slid in to dispossess him, Poborsky stepped forward and eluded him.
Now there were three. Poborsky had Paulo Sousa, Fernando Couto and Oceano in front of him. A ricochet off Oceano, though, and suddenly Poborsky was past them all. And he was 20 yards out.
Had panic set in, the split- second speed of things would have made that forgivable. But no, despite the pace, Poborsky could see goalkeeper Victor Baia was racing out.
On the 18-yard line, Poborsky had a decision to make. It’s just no one had foreseen this choice, except him.
The impact that Poborsky made at the tournament earned him a move to Manchester United
From somewhere inside, Poborsky lofted the ball over the advancing Baia — a scoop rather than a chip. He watched, along with an open-mouthed audience, the ball rise, then fall just in time to cross the line as Portugal’s defenders scrambled back. It was a finish that was simultaneously ridiculous and sublime.
‘Baia was well out of his goal so I thought the easiest thing to do was to lob him,’ Poborsky said of his act of amazing spatial awareness, ‘which I managed to do really well. The ball went so high that I thought it couldn’t end up in the goal. But then it did.’
It was enough to beat Portugal and take the Czech Republic into the semi-finals. Coming seven years after the Velvet Revolution in Prague, the goal felt historic as well as
