Krzysztof Warzycha

Krzysztof Ireneusz Warzycha (Polish pronunciation: [ˈkʂɨʂtɔf vaˈʐɨxa]; Greek: Κριστόφ Βαζέχα; born 17 November 1964) is a Polish former professional footballer. For the majority of his career he played for Greek club Panathinaikos.

Krzysztof Warzycha
Warzycha
Personal information
Full name Krzysztof Warzycha
Date of birth (1964-11-17) 17 November 1964
Place of birth Katowice, Poland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1989 Ruch Chorzów 164 (66)
1989–2004 Panathinaikos 390 (244)
Total 554 (310)
National team
1984–1997 Poland 50 (9)
Teams managed
2009–2010 Panathinaikos (assistant)
2012 Egaleo
2012 Fokikos
2013–2014 Kallithea
2014–2015 Fostiras
2015–2016 Omonia (assistant)
2017 Ruch Chorzów
2018 Sparta
2020 Enosis Aspropyrgos
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Ruch Chorzów

Warzycha played for Polish team Ruch Chorzów, won the Polish Championship in 1989 and was the top scorer in the Polish premier league the same year.

Panathinaikos

Warzycha joined Panathinaikos in December 1989, and won five Greek championships (1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2004), five Greek cups (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004), two Greek super cups 1993, 1994, while he was the highest scorer of the Greek championship 3 times (1994, 1995, 1998).

He is Panathinaikos' all-time leading goalscorer and an idol for the club. Warzycha is considered by many to be one of the best foreign players who have played in Greece. He was one of two Poles in the title-winning side of 1995, with fellow countryman Józef Wandzik keeping over a dozen clean sheets (shutouts) during the season.

He was the top scorer of Panathinaikos with 319 goals in all competitions.

The most iconic goal

On 3 April 1996, Warzycha scored probably the most important goal of his career (according to a late interview), against Ajax Amsterdam in Amsterdam Olympic Stadium and gave Ajax their first home defeat in four years, in their last home match before the demolition of the stadium.

First goal scorer

At the end of the 2000–01 season, Warzycha had scored an incredible 235 goals in 352 matches and had been the Greek Alpha Ethniki premier league's top scorer in three different years in the 90s (1994, 1995 and 1998 seasons). His appearances in the UEFA Champions League have been no less impressive – he scored six goals in Panathinaikos' nine games on the way to the semi-finals of the 1995–96 competition.

With eight goals scored in all UEFA Champions League games, Warzycha remained the best scorer of Polish nationality in this competition until the 2012–13 season, when Robert Lewandowski scored 10 times for Dortmund in Dortmund's surprise run to the Champions League final.

On 29 April 2001, during the match with Ionikos FC, Warzycha scored the 233rd goal of his career in Greece, climbing to second place on the list of all-time goal scorers, tied with Mimis Papaioannou. Warzycha later scored his 234th goal and become sole occupant of this spot.

He was granted Greek citizenship in 1998. He retired in 2004.

Managing career

After Panathinaikos head coach Henk Ten Cate was let go on 8 December 2009, Warzycha was appointed as assistant coach alongside Nikos Nioplias.[1]

On 1 March 2012, Warzycha was appointed as the head coach of Delta Ethniki side Egaleo, with this being his first venture into management.[2]

In 2012, Warzycha was the head coach of Fokikos F.C.[3]

In April 2017 he replaced Waldemar Fornalik on Ruch Chorzów manager position.[4]

International career

Warzycha played 50 times for Poland, scoring 9 goals. He played the last game for the Polish national team in April 1997 against Italy in Napoli (3–0 loss).

Later life

He ran in the Greek local elections, 2014 with a New Democracy backed combination for the municipality of Athens.[5] Former player was also an ANEL candidate to parliament in January 2015 legislative elections, but without success.[6]

Career statistics

Club

Panathinaikos
SeasonAppsGoals
1989–90 2114
1990–91 3318
1991–92 2512
1992–93 3736
1993–94 3526
1994–95 3732
1995–96 4325
1996–97 4425
1997–98 3619
1998–99 3810
1999–00 4819
2000–01 229
2001–02 348
2002–03 2113
2003–04 90
Total in Greece 503288

Last updated: 2015-01-27
Source: [7]

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.19 October 1988Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland Albania
1–0
1–0
1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.7 February 1989Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Costa Rica
1–0
4–2
Friendly
3.
3–0
4.12 February 1989Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala Guatemala
1–0
1–0
5.19 May 1992Stadion Lehen, Salzburg, Austria Austria
3–1
4–2
6.27 May 1992City Stadium, Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Poland Czechoslovakia
1–0
1–0
7.19 May 1993Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino San Marino
3–0
3–0
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.27 August 1996Stadion GKS, Bełchatów, Poland Cyprus
1–0
2–2
Friendly
9.10 November 1996Stadion GKS Katowice, Katowice, Poland Moldova
2–0
2–1
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Ruch Chorzów

Panathinaikos

Individual

Awards

Warzycha's goalscoring ability made him famous throughout Europe during his career. In 2001 the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) awarded him the Third Prize for the most active goalscorer.

References

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