Sports & Betting News

Pavel Nedved has confirmed his retirement from professional football despite receiving offers to prolong his career.

According to his website the 37 year old veteran has decided to decline all offers and wants to dedicate his time to his family, wife and children.

Nedved got international breakthrough in 1996, when he helped the Czech National Team to reach the final of that years UEFA European Football Championship. His team eventually went on to lose the final against Germany, but Nedved received the international prominence he needed to start his illustrious career.
In the same year the Czech midfielder left Sparta Prague and signed a contract with Lazio, where he helped his team win the Coppa Italia in 1997 and 1998. Nedved eventually moved to Juventus in 2001 for a fee of €41 million as a replacement for Zinedine Zidane, who transferred to Madrid C.F. earlier the same summer.
Nedved proved to be an adequate replacement for Zidane. In 2002/2003 he led his team to the UEFA Champiosleague final, but had to sit out the game, because of an accumulation of yellow cards. At the end of 2003 Nedved was awarded the European Player of the Year award.
After Juventus´s relegation from Serie A as a consequence of the Calciopoli scandal, Nedved´s future at Juventus was unclear and it was rumored that he might retire from football altogether.
But Nedved persisted and helped Juventus win the Serie B title, securing the promotion to Serie B.
After an injury shortened 2007/2008 season, indications were that he would be traded during the 2008/2009 summer transfer window, but Nedved quickly dispersed all rumors by signing a one year contract extension.
On February 26th 2009 Nedved announced that he would retire at the end of the 2008/2009 season. The Czech football legend captained the final match of his career against S.S. Lazio. He was substituted before the final whistle and received standing ovations by both sets of supporters.