Ex-Liverpool Star Milan Baros To Retire At End Of Season Aged 38
Former Liverpool and Czech Republic striker Milan Baros has announced he will retire from football at the age of 38 at the end of the season.
Baros currently plays in the Czech Republic top flight with Banik Ostrava, where he has managed three goals from 18 appearances in the 2019/2020 season.
"Milan Baros officially announced today that he will end his active playing career after the current season. The main reason is chronic health problems, which no longer allow him to prepare well," Baros' club Banik Ostrava said on Friday.
"The head would like to go on, but the body said stop. Health problems have been with me for a long time and the body simply does not work as I was used to and as I would need. I especially hurt so much that I can no longer play or train," Baros said.
Baros is in his fourth spell as an Ostrava player, having started out with the club in 1998 before moving to Liverpool in 2002.
He was Liverpool’s leading striker in the 2004/2005 season and started in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final as the Reds mounted an extraordinary comeback from 3-0 down to trump AC Milan on penalties.
Baros had further spells at Aston Villa, Olympique Lyon, where he won two Ligue 1 titles and a loan spell at Portsmouth in 2008 brought an FA Cup triumph.
Baros won the top goalscorer in the Turkish Super Lig while playing for Galatasaray in the 2008/2009 season with 20 goals and has also turned out for Antalyaspor, Mlada Boleslav and Liberec.
Baros won the goal king award at the 2004 European Championships with five goals and is the Czech Republic’s second all-time top scorer with 41 goals from 93 caps.
