This weekend Lazio could beat Inter and destroy their Serie A -Titelkansen. The last time that happened, about 23 years ago, Czech football player Karel Poborsky decided that match with a famous brace, who handed the Scudetto to Juventus. “Pavel (Nedved) immediately called me after the game, from the team bus where they celebrated the title,” Poborsky recalls in this interview with FlashScore.
The name of Poborsky is inextricably linked to that match between his Lazio and Inter. On May 5, 2002, the Czech football player actually scored the two most famous goals of his career, although not the most important from a purely sporting point of view for his club.
It was the last day of the championship, and the rankings saw the Nerazzurri for one point for Juventus and two for Roma Leiden.
What the Curva Nord wanted to avoid in the Stadio Olimpico was that the Roma of Captain Francesco Totti was crowned for the second year at the course of the champions of Italy. It was for this reason that the Biancoceleste had asked their players to step aside and to hand over the Scudetto to Inter.
The former midfielder of Manchester United, however, wanted nothing to do with losing and responding from Klap on the Nerazzurri, when Lazio won 4-2 and handed the title to the Juventus of his friend Pavel Nedved.
Poborsky is currently working as an expert at Canal+ Sport, a station that broadcasts the Premier League in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and accepted the invitation of Flash score to talk about his adventure in Rome and remember that fatal day in May: “I don't remember that I had thrown other doubleers in my career in my career.”
Read our full interview with Poborsky below!
When you became a member of Lazio, Serie A was the strongest competition in the world and Lazio was the ruling champions. Do you want to go there specifically, or were there more options on the table at that time?
“I moved in the winter, halfway through the season, and I originally did not want to leave Benfica at all. But their interest was huge. Attilio Lombardo was the right midfielder of Lazio at the time and he was in fact completed his career, so the club wanted to sort out the situation as quickly as possible.
“The whole transfer came together in about a week. I remember my time lovingly there – Lazio is a huge club, and the Italian competition was fantastic at the time. We had Italian internationals in the team, great Argentinian players, the quality was huge.”
Has Pavel Nedved played a major role in your move? Has he tried to persuade you to come to Lazio?
“He actually initiated the first contact. He called me and said that Lazio was looking for the right midfielder and asked if I was interested – if the club had to continue and negotiations should start, or if I was not something I would consider and they shouldn't even try it.
“Of course, his are there was one of the factors that raised my interest. Pavel and I had known each other for a long time, we played together in the national team, and it was the first time during abroad that I still had a Czech man in the dressing room.”
But later in the summer, Nedved moved to Juventus, who fought for the title with Inter and Roma until the last day. Lazio defeated Inter 4-2 in the last game of the season. You scored those two famous goals and actually handed the Scudetto to Juventus. Is it true that you and Pavel called each other immediately after the game? Did he thank you?
“Of course we had contact with each other all the time. We even called the day before the game. He said that the title would be decided tomorrow and said that I had to give it everything. And I said jokes:” Don't worry, we will beat them tomorrow, I will score two goals and it's yours. ” And then it really happened!
“I can't remember that I once scored two goals in a match in another time, certainly not in the Serie A. Pavel called me immediately after the game, from the team bus where they celebrated the title.”
The situation at the top of the table was very tight. Inter, Juventus and Roma were within two points before the final round. Some Lazio fans even wanted their team to lose to Inter, so that their biggest rival, Roma, would not win the title. Did you talk about that?
“Yes, it was a big subject, even in the dressing room. We had quite a few Argentinian players who had many friends at Inter. The Italians, on the other hand, were more rooted for Juventus, where they had teammates from the national team, and Juventus in general is a club with a huge status in Italy.
“At the time we were kidding that among our fans, and even among the players themselves, were in principle two camps.”
That two-goal game, which decided the title, was your farewell to Lazio. How were the following days and your farewell?
“It was very fast. I no longer know if we had the national team obligation afterwards or if our vacations started immediately, but at least we all left the next morning. And because we did not finish high in the table, there was nothing to celebrate.”
Did you already know that you would return to the Czech Republic, or were you still considering staying abroad, even continuing in Italy?
“I already had an agreement with Sparta Prague at the time. The situation in Lazio was complicated. The then owner, Sergio Cragnotti, had a number of legal problems, and if I remember correctly, the club was finally taken over by a bank.
“It was a tough period. I didn't even have anyone in Lazio to negotiate because the club had other things at that time to deal with.”
If we go back to that last game again, Simone Inzaghi was also the objectives. He is now the head coach of Inter. Did you feel like he could become such a successful manager then?
“To be honest, I didn't do it. He was a pretty quiet guy, and you can still see that. Of course he shows emotion on the sidelines, but in press conferences he always speaks in a cultivated, thoughtful way.
“At the time it was difficult for him. He was more of a replacement, the first man of the couch. Hernan Crespo was the most important striker. But even then he was a nice guy, I really have good memories of him.”
Do you still have contact? Are you going to root for him at the end of the season, when he fights for the Scudetto and Champions League Glory?
“We have no contact now. I will probably enjoy the Champions League final without much emotion, because I don't have a team there.
“PSG is incredibly strong, but given how Inter has reached the final, I have to admit that they have built a great team. A functioning side that knows exactly how to play. It will definitely be an interesting final.
“With regard to the Scudetto race, Napoli probably has the lead, partly because they are not in European competitions and have more energy. And they are also in great form, four wins in their last five games. I would say they will take it.”
As it is currently at the top of the AFFASH score series