Czech striker Milan Baros ended his international career after the Czech Republic were eliminated from Euro 2012, Czech team spokesman Jaroslav Kolar told AFP yesterday.
“He only said it to the guys in the locker room, I can’t quote him," Kolar said shortly after midnight as the team were digesting Thursday’s 1-0 quarter-final loss to Portugal in Warsaw that sent them home.
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“The other players and the coach reacted with a big applause that lasted about five minutes. It was pretty long and it was pretty emotional,” Kolar added.
The 30-year-old Galatasaray striker scored 41 goals in 93 games for the national team.
He did not score at Euro 2012, but five goals at Euro 2004, where the flair-filled Czech team reached the semi-finals, made him the tournament’s top scorer.u00a0
Baros won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, but his form has slumped since then, with the player featuring as often on the gossip pages as the sports pages.