Lubo…Lubo…Lubo…

He came in as a virtual unknown, but Lubomir Moravcik left as one of the greatest players to have ever worn the Hoops

THE resurgence of Celtic in the late 1990s and early 2000s stemmed from the desire and need to stop the 10 – and two players more than most at the time characterised the Celtic ethos and fairy tale aura.

They stood above a host of great players who donned the Hoops, but this pair couldn’t be considered ‘big-money signings’ and they proved to be the iconic Celtic players of a pivotal moment in the club’s history.

One was Henrik Larsson, and the other was the inimitable Lubomir Moravcik. Prior to coming to Celtic, the Swede may have been known to supporters as the guy with the dreadlocks from the 1994 World Cup.

However, even seasoned European football anoraks on this side of the North Sea would have had difficulty in pinpointing Lubo or telling you what teams the Slovak had played for.

Those teams were Nitra, Saint-Etienne, Bastia and MSV Duisberg – maybe that in itself partially helps to explain the travesty that this 33-year-old player had never won a single winner’s medal.

That was to change when Lubo joined the Hoops and he won five trophies in four years with Celtic while scoring 35 goals in 129 games before leaving for JEF United Ichihara in 2002.

Lubo has always been a welcome visitor back in Paradise, and here take a look back to an interview he did with the Celtic View for the January 17, 2010 issue.

LOOKING back, many observers remain a little red-faced when they recall their initial reaction to then Celtic manager, Dr Jozef Venglos signing a 33-year-old Slovak named Lubomir Moravcik from German outfit Duisburg.

At the time, the reaction was one of indifference and, at worst, incredulity. That did not last long. Quickly, the little footballing magician, with his bag of tricks, pin-point passing and deadly shot, became a Hoops hero and had adoring fans chanting ‘Lubo! Lubo!’ and bowing in appreciation.