Wojciech Kowalczyk

Wojciech Kowalczyk (born 14 April 1972) is a Polish retired footballer who played as a striker, currently working for the Weszło media group as an expert.

Wojciech Kowalczyk
Personal information
Full name Wojciech Kowalczyk
Date of birth (1972-04-14) 14 April 1972
Place of birth Warsaw, Poland
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Olimpia Warsaw
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990 Polonez Warsaw
1990–1994 Legia Warsaw 109 (39)
1994–1997 Betis 62 (14)
1998–1999 Las Palmas 28 (6)
2001 Legia Warsaw 15 (3)
2001–2002 Anorthosis 27 (24)
2003–2004 APOEL 16 (3)
2005–2006 AZS Absolwent UW Warsaw
2018–2019 KTS Weszło Warsaw 7 (1)
Total 257 (89)
National team
1991–1999 Poland 39 (11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 December 2020

The bulk of his professional career was spent with Legia Warsaw and in Spain. Early into his international career, he helped the Polish national team win the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Club career

Born in Warsaw, Kowalczyk played his youth football with local Olimpia and Polonez, joining city giants Legia Warsaw in 1990 at the age of 18. Almost from the very beginning, he was an automatic first-choice; in his weakest season, his first, he only appeared in 11 Ekstraklasa games, but was crucial in helping oust U.C. Sampdoria in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup by scoring twice in Genoa for the 2–2 draw and qualification for the semifinals 3–2 on aggregate.

After having started the 1994–95 campaign with Legia (five matches, three goals, another league title), Kowalczyk moved abroad and signed with La Liga side Real Betis, but was never able to reproduce his previous form. He finished his five-year spell in Spain with UD Las Palmas in the second division, where he also appeared sparingly.

After almost one year out of football, Kowalczyk returned to his country and his main club, Legia. In late 2001 he changed countries again, joining Cyprus' Anorthosis Famagusta FC and netting a career-best 24 goals; after a nearly non-existent second season he finished his professional career in the same country, with APOEL FC, retiring at 32 – afterwards, he would play in amateur football until 2019, with AZS Absolwent UW Warsaw and KTS Weszło Warsaw.

International career

Kowalczyk gained 39 caps for Poland, scoring 11 goals. His debut came at the age of 19 on 21 August 1991, against Sweden.[1]

His biggest international highlight was helping the Olympic squad win silver at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona: he did not score at all in the group stage, but eventually ranked third in the charts at four, three behind compatriot Andrzej Juskowiak.[2]

International goals
Scores and results table. Poland's goal tally first:
#DateVenueOpponentResultCompetition
121 August 1991Gdynia, Poland Sweden
2–0
Friendly
219 May 1992Salzburg, Austria Austria
4–2
314 October 1992Rotterdam, Netherlands Netherlands
2–2
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
427 October 1993Istanbul, Turkey Turkey
1–2
525 April 1995Zabrze, Poland Israel
4–3
1996 UEFA Euro qualification
61 May 1996Mielec, Poland Belarus
1–1
Friendly
724 September 1997Olsztyn, Poland Lithuania
2–0
825 March 1998Warsaw, Poland Slovenia
2–0
910 November 1998Bratislava, Slovakia Slovakia
3–1
10
1110 February 1999Ta' Qali, Malta Finland
1–1

Honours

Club
Legia
Anorthosis
APOEL

Country

Individual

References
  1. "Poland – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  2. Wojciech Kowalczyk – FIFA competition record
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