Patrik Berger (; born 10 November 1973) is a Czech former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He started his career in his own country with Slavia Prague and spent a season in Germany playing for

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

. He moved to England in 1996, where he spent seven years with

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, winning four trophies in his time there. This was followed by spells at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. He spent the last two years of his career back in his native Czech Republic playing for

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

. Internationally, Berger played in two major tournaments for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He played an important part in his nation's

Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

campaign, scoring in the final as the Czech Republic finished runners-up to Germany. He took a 17-month break from the national team between 1997 and 1998 after a dispute with manager

Dušan Uhrin Dušan Uhrin (born 5 February 1943) is a Czech and Slovak football coach and former player. He was the coach of Slovan Bratislava. Although he was born in the Nitra District in the Slovak part of Czechoslovakia, he has lived in Prague since th ...

, returning to the setup following Uhrin's departure from the post. His second and final major tournament was

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, but due to suspension and his country's early exit, he only played one match. He retired from the national team in 2002 at the age of 28 with a total of 44 senior international caps and 18 goals. Capable of occupying midfield and

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

positions, Berger became noted for his powerful strikes, surging runs, and strong left foot. Berger was beset with injuries throughout his career and received specialist treatment in the United States. He retired on 6 January 2010 due to knee injuries.

Personal life

Berger was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czechoslovakia. His uncle is the Czech footballer Jan Berger. He married wife Jaroslava, and has two children, son Patrik and daughter Valentýnka. He gained a

British passport A British passport is a travel document issued by the United Kingdom or other British dependencies and territories to individuals holding any form of British nationality. It grants the bearer international passage in accordance with visa requ ...

in 2001 after having spent five years playing club football in England. This enabled him to play without needing a work permit, which he had previously required due to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

's rules on non-EU players.

Club career

Early career

He began his footballing career as a youth player at

in 1989, securing a professional contract two years later with rivals Slavia Prague. Establishing himself as a senior regular, Berger competed in Europe and earned selection for Czechoslovakia and, following its establishment, the Czech Republic.

Matthews Matthews may refer to: People * Matthews (surname) Places * Matthews Island, Antarctica * Matthews Range, Kenya * Mount Matthews, New Zealand United States * Matthews, Georgia * Matthews, Indiana * Matthews, Maryland * Matthews, Missouri * Mat ...

, p. 29.

Borussia Dortmund

After 90 league appearances and 24 goals, Berger was purchased by

Ottmar Hitzfeld Ottmar Hitzfeld (; born 12 January 1949) is a German former professional football player ( striker) and manager. He accumulated a total of 18 major titles, mostly in his tenures with Grasshopper Club Zürich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich ...

in 1995 for a reported £500,000. In August 1995 he played in the DFL-Supercup, as Dortmund beat

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

to win the title. While Dortmund went on to win the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

title in the 1995–96 season, Berger was frequently used as a substitute, making 14 of his 27 league appearances from the bench. Hitzfeld preferred to employ Berger as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

as he considered him to be most suited to the role. Berger scored four goals for Dortmund in the German top-flight. Liverpool's interest in Berger was stimulated by the performances of the Czech Republic during Euro 1996, organised in England, where he scored a penalty in the final. The club approached both Berger and

Karel Poborský Karel Poborský (; born 30 March 1972) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He was most noted for his technical ability and pace. He began and finished his club career at Dynamo České Budějovice, where his k ...

, who elected to transfer to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

after the competition's conclusion. Berger did accept Liverpool's contract offer and completed his transfer in August 1996 for £3.25 million.

Liverpool

Berger and his family settled in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

, Merseyside, where they resided near retired players

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

and

Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, for the successful Liverpool team of the late 1970s and 1980s, and for the Scotland ...

. Debuting as a substitute in a 2–1 home win against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 7 September 1996, Berger performed well in his first month with the club, endearing him to supporters and earning praise from colleagues. In his second match, he replaced

Stan Collymore Stanley Victor Collymore (born 22 January 1971) is an English football pundit, sport strategist, and former player who played as a striker from 1990 to 2001, most notably for Nottingham Forest and later Liverpool, who he joined from the form ...

as half time substitute, going on to score two goals in a 3–0 win against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. A second double was registered against Chelsea in the latter's 5–1 defeat at Anfield, which he followed with a fifth goal in four matches in a

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

match against MYPA. The series of displays were recognised in October 1996 with the FA's Player of the Month award for September. First-team opportunities became limited in Berger's second season. Despite scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in October 1997, he often found himself named as a substitute. His dissatisfaction at manager

Roy Evans Roy Quentin Echlin Evans (born 4 October 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool. He eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become the team manager. While predominantly plyi ...

placed his Liverpool career in jeopardy. Evans criticised Berger's perceived indifference to teamwork and publicly expressed a willingness to sell after he refused to be used as a substitute against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in March 1998. Berger was linked with a move away from Liverpool in May 1998, with Italian club

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

, the manager of which was his countryman Zdeněk Zeman, and Portuguese club Benfica both mentioned as possible destinations. The appointment of

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...

as co-manager before the 1998–99 season and subsequent departure of Evans proved to be pivotal in Berger's decision to remain with the club. Playing regularly in his first season under Houllier's reign, Berger scored nine goals and improved as a player. An injury sustained in a 4–3 defeat to Leeds United in November 2000 rendered Berger unavailable for much of the 2000–01 season and required specialist treatment in the United States from knee surgeon

Richard Steadman Dr. J. Richard Steadman (June 4, 1937 – January 20, 2023) was a pioneering orthopedic surgeon and founder of The Steadman Clinic and Steadman Philippon Research Institute (SPRI) located in Vail, Colorado. Dr. Steadman revolutionized orthopaedic ...

. By March 2001, Berger had recovered and he went on to feature in the final of both the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, with Liverpool winning both trophies. In the 2001 FA Cup Final he provided the assist for Michael Owen to score the deciding goal against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He appeared in the

2001 FA Charity Shield The 2001 FA Charity Shield (also known as The One 2 One FA Charity Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 79th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup. The match ...

, coming on as a substitute as Liverpool won the competition. He then underwent knee surgery in August 2001, ruling him out of the

2001 UEFA Super Cup The 2001 UEFA Super Cup was a football match between German team Bayern Munich and English team Liverpool on 24 August 2001 at Stade Louis II, the annual UEFA Super Cup contested between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup. Ba ...

. Recurring injuries between 2001 and 2003 continued to disrupt Berger's career and deprived him of a presence in the first team, resulting in his decision to leave Liverpool after the expiration of his contract following the conclusion of the 2002–03 season. Berger had been confined to the bench for the duration of his final season when selected, limiting him to four appearances. He left Liverpool, having scored 35 goals during his seven seasons with the club.

Portsmouth

Newly promoted to the Premier League,

manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...

signed Berger on a free transfer. Redknapp said of the deal: "Patrik's a quality player, free – and the type of player who'll bring good experience to Portsmouth. I had a bit of competition for him but he's looked round the area and is very happy to join us." Berger made his first appearance for Portsmouth on the opening day against

; he scored the club's second goal. Berger scored the winning goal in Portsmouth's victory over his former club Liverpool in October 2003. A month later, he set up the first and fourth Portsmouth goals and scored the fifth in Portsmouth's 6–1 win against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

. On

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

2003, Berger helped Portsmouth to a 2–0 win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, scoring both goals of the match from free kicks, the first of which was scored from . Berger underwent an

operation Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

upon his knee in February 2004, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. Berger started the 2004–05 season with note, scoring August's contender for

Goal of the Season In English football, the Goal of the Season is an annual competition and award given on BBC's ''Match of the Day'', in honour of the most spectacular goal scored that season. It is typically contested between the winners of the preceding ten Goa ...

against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. His second goal of the campaign came in a 3–1 win away to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, striking from . October 2004 saw his final league goal for Portsmouth in a 2–2 away draw at Norwich, scoring a 25-yard free kick. The club endured a difficult end to the season, winning just once in a period of 12 matches, which prompted the appointment of

Alain Perrin Alain André Christian Perrin (born 7 October 1956) is a French professional football manager and former player. Perrin made his managerial breakthrough at Troyes, whom he took from the fourth tier to Ligue 1 and UEFA Cup qualification by winnin ...

as Portsmouth's new manager. Berger was one of a number of players including Steve Stone and

Shaka Hislop Neil Shaka Hislop CM (born 22 February 1969) is a retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in England, he played for them at under-21 level before representing Trinidad and Tobago at senior international level. The majority of his ...

whose contracts were due to expire in the summer. Portsmouth successfully avoided relegation close to the end of the season, following a 2–0 loss away at Manchester City on 30 April. In spite of Portsmouth having retained their Premier League status, Berger then joined Aston Villa on a two-year-deal, citing manager

David O'Leary David Anthony O'Leary (born 2 May 1958) is a football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United, subsequently managing Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai. The majority of his 20-yea ...

as the main reason for choosing Villa.

Aston Villa and Stoke City (loan)

Berger was hampered by injury during his early Villa career, making few league appearances. During the first part of his second season, he only played two matches under new manager

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

. In November 2006, he was sent to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

on loan until 4 January 2007, following a fine of two weeks' wages for refusing to play in a reserve match. During his time at Stoke, he started just one match and took part in a further six as a substitute. Following his return from Stoke, Berger was commended by O'Neill on his fitness and on 7 April 2007, Berger started his first match for Villa since October 2005. He marked this occasion by scoring a goal in a 2–1 victory against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. Berger scored again on 5 May 2007 in the penultimate match of the season against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. On 28 May 2007, Berger agreed to sign a one-year contract extension with Aston Villa. Berger was injured in the pre-season of the

2007–08 Premier League The 2007–08 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) season was the 16th since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 11 August 2007, and the season ended on 11 May 2008. Manchest ...

, keeping him out of league matches until October 2007. He then suffered a recurrence of the same injury and was ruled out for a further period of time. On 6 May 2008, Berger was told he had played his last match for Aston Villa after urging captain

Gareth Barry Gareth Barry (born 23 February 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made 653 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and West Bromwich Albion, the highest number of ap ...

to move to Liverpool. This came just days after manager Martin O'Neill claimed he was "desperate" to keep Barry following interest from Premier League rivals Chelsea and Liverpool. At the end of his contract Berger was released by the club, having appeared in just 29 league matches in three seasons.

Return to Sparta Prague

On 29 May 2008, Berger returned to Prague as a free agent, signing a two-year contract with boyhood club

, also becoming captain of the club for the 2008–09 Gambrinus liga. In November 2008, Berger scored a hat-trick against

SK Kladno Sportovní klub Kladno, commonly known as SK Kladno or Kladno, is a association football, football club from Kladno, Czech Republic. It was founded on February 15, 1903. The team plays at the Stadion Františka Kloze, named after legendary player ...

in a 5–0 Sparta victory. Sparta went on to finish the season in second place, thus ensuring qualification for the following season's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

tournament. Berger was the club's top league goal scorer with six goals. During the 2009–10 season, Berger played just two league matches before undergoing more knee surgery. On 6 January 2010 he announced his retirement after failing to recover from a ligament injury.

Post-professional career

Berger continued playing football on an amateur basis in August 2010 for sixth-tier Czech Republic club Dolní Chabry. At the age of 40 he was still playing for the team.

International career

Berger represented the youth teams of Czechoslovakia from the under-15 level, working his way up through under-16, under-17 and under-18 between 1988 and 1991. Jeřábek, p. 18. For these junior teams he had a record of a total of six goals in 49 appearances. During this time he won the 1990 UEFA European Under-16 Championship with the under-16 team, scoring in the final against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Berger made his senior international debut on 23 March 1993 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier for

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, which ended 1–1. In October 1995 he scored the second goal in a must-win qualification match for

against

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, which the Czechs won 2–0. Berger was part of the Czech Republic team who took part in Euro 1996, but Martin Frýdek was preferred to Berger in the starting lineup for the first match against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Berger went on to play in all of his nation's matches in the tournament, famously scoring in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

from the penalty spot to give the

a 1–0 lead against Germany. However, the Czech Republic ultimately lost on the

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

rule in extra time. Between 1997 and 1998, Berger

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

ed the Czech national team due to a conflict with head coach

. He returned to the national set-up after a 17-month absence following the appointment of

Jozef Chovanec Jozef Chovanec (born 7 March 1960) is a Czech former professional football player and manager. Playing career As a player, Chovanec spent almost his whole career at Sparta Prague. In 1988, he moved to the Netherlands, to play briefly for PSV Ei ...

as Uhrin's replacement. He made a notable return to the national team, scoring two goals from free kicks in a qualification match against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. The next major international tournament Berger took part in was

. Having been suspended for his nation's first two matches after being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in a qualifier against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, Berger played just one match. Berger announced his retirement from international football in March 2002 at the age of 28. He finished his career having made a total of 44 appearances for national teams, including 42 for the Czech Republic and 2 for Czechoslovakia. He scored a total of 18 international goals, all for the Czech Republic.

Style of play

Berger played mainly as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

, also being known as a winger. He became noted for his powerful strikes, surging runs, and strong left foot. Teammate at Liverpool

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...

said of Berger that "he was the best left-footed striker of a ball I have seen".

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Berger goal''.

Honours

Borussia Dortmund *

: 1995–96 * DFB-Supercup:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Liverpool *

: 2000–01 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

: 2000–01 *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

: 2000-01, 2002-03 Individual *

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

: September 1996 *

Czech Footballer of the Year The Czech Footballer of the Year ( cs, Fotbalista roku) is awarded in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the ...

: 1996 (shared with

) * Czech Golden Ball: 1999

References

Cited texts

* *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Patrik 1973 births Living people Footballers from Prague Czechoslovak footballers Czechoslovakia international footballers Czech footballers Czech Republic under-21 international footballers Czech Republic international footballers Dual internationalists (football) Association football wingers AC Sparta Prague players SK Slavia Prague players Borussia Dortmund players Liverpool F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Czech First League players Bundesliga players Premier League players English Football League players UEFA Cup winning players UEFA Euro 1996 players UEFA Euro 2000 players Czech expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in England Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Czech people of German descent FA Cup Final players