Milan Baroš

Early career

As a boy, Baroš played for youth clubs in Vigantice and Rožnov pod Radhoštěm before joining the youth team of Baník Ostrava at the age of 12. In 1998, he made his debut for the club in the Czech First League, the top division of Czech football, becoming a regular over the next few seasons. In 2000, he won the Talent of the Year award at the Czech Footballer of the Year awards. He was described by the Czech News Agency in the 2000–01 season as "perhaps the biggest star of the [Czech] football league". He played his last game for the club on 2 December 2001, in a 1–0 loss at Viktoria Žižkov. During his time in Ostrava, he scored 23 league goals in 76 appearances.

Liverpool

Baroš joined Liverpool in July 2001 for an undisclosed fee and on a contract of undisclosed length; he joined compatriots Patrik Berger and Vladimír Šmicer at the club. The BBC estimated his transfer fee as £3.2 million. He did not move to England straight away due to delays in obtaining a work permit, which was obtained in December. He made his club debut in a UEFA Champions League tie away to Barcelona on 13 March 2002; he played the last 16 minutes in place of Emile Heskey as the match finished goalless. It was his only appearance of the 2001–02 season. In the 2002–03 season, Baroš scored twice on his Premiership debut away to Bolton Wanderers on 14 September 2002, as Liverpool won 3–2 away. Baroš was a substitute in the 2003 Football League Cup Final against Manchester…

Youth and early senior careers

Baroš represented various Czech Republic youth teams ranging from under-15 until under-18. He played in the 2000 Summer Olympics, making three appearances for the team. Baroš took part in two other major tournaments at junior level: the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where Czech Republic placed second, and the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which the Czechs won. Baroš debuted for the Czech senior squad on 25 April 2001 in a friendly match against Belgium whilst scoring his first goal as well. He and national teammate Pavel Nedvěd were both shown the red card in a November 2001 qualification match for the following year's World Cup, as the Czech Republic were eliminated by Belgium.

UEFA Euro 2004

At UEFA Euro 2004, Baroš scored the first goal for the Czech Republic in their first game of the tournament, a come-from-behind 2–1 victory over Latvia. With the goal he became the youngest goalscorer at the European Championships for the Czech Republic. His second goal of the tournament came against the Netherlands; the Dutch team had taken a two-goal lead over the Czechs before Jan Koller scored from a Baroš pass. Baroš then scored before Vladimír Šmicer completed the scoring, as the Czechs won the game 3–2. The third group match saw the Czech Republic make nine changes to their starting lineup, having already qualified for the quarter-finals. Baroš appeared as a substitute and scored the winning goal, as…

Baroš gained the nickname "the Ostravan Maradona" in his native Czech Republic due to perceived similarities with the Argentine footballer of the same name. He was noted particularly for being a quick player with good dribbling skill.

Baroš was born in the Czech town of Valašské Meziříčí. He is of partial Vlach and Romani descent. He grew up in the village of Vigantice. In 2009, he married Tereza Franková, whom he started dating in 2005. Their son Patrik was born on 2 September 2009 and their second son Matteo was born on 1 November 2011. They split in 2024. On 1 November 2007, Baroš was arrested in France while driving at 271 km/h (168 mph) in his black Ferrari F430, on a freeway limited to 130 km/h (81 mph). Stopped by French police between Lyon and Geneva in the region of Ain, the local authorities said the radar reading of 271 km/h was the fastest speed ever recorded in the region, surpassing the previous mark of 248 km/h (154 mph) set by a motorcyclist in 2000. As a result, Baroš had his car and licence confiscated and had to return to Lyon in a taxi.