2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Samuel Meade)
Liverpool had some iconic foreign players during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and one - Patrik Berger - would go unrecognised by a lot of Reds fans nowadays. The Czech played for the Merseyside outfit for seven years after joining in 1996 from the Bundesliga. He was part of a team that won numerous honours, including the cup treble in 2001 that included the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Berger would go on to remain in England after leaving Liverpool , playing for Portsmouth and Aston Villa. He eventually called time on his playing days in 2010 and has just celebrated his 51st birthday with a picture going on social media of him with a cake. The Czech, looking far from enthusiastic, is sporting bed hair and some arm sleeve tattoos but has little resemblance to the man who playing in England's top flight for a decade with his long locks of hair.
As well as playing in England, Berger also played for Slavia Prague, Borussia Dortmund and Sparta Prague during his career. He also enjoyed a regular period playing for the Czech Republic, scoring 18 goals in his 42 caps. He played at both Euro 1996 and Euro 2000 - helping the Czechs make the final in 1996.
The former Liverpool favourite has continued to stay connected with the club and years ago became a cashier for the day as the Reds opened their first-ever store in Malaysia. Berger was in Kuala Lumpur to lend a helping hand behind the tills as the club opened the store in the Far East. One of the Czech's highlights in a Liverpool shirt saw him score a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Chelsea .
He remains the last Reds player to hit a Premier League treble against the Blues. Berger has also confessed that the day he moved from Dortmund to Liverpool was the best moment in his football career. He once told the Sunday Times: "You know, the greatest day in my football life was the day I signed for Liverpool.
I couldn't believe it. When I was young in Czechoslovakia, we didn't see much European football, but my father's friend went to England and he watched Liverpool. When he came back, he gave me the programme, the ticket and a scarf.
I still have them all. "When I moved to Southport to live, my neighbour was Kenny Dalglish. Alan Hansen lived around the corner.
I met them, they were normal guys, but they were my heroes. To me, it's the best club in the world and when I am finished playing and I'm telling my children about it I will be proud to say that for seven years I was a Liverpool player." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content.
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