Wojciech Kowalczyk

Wojciech Kowalczyk

Personal information
Full name	Wojciech Kowalczyk
Date of birth	April 14, 1972 (1972-04-14)
Place of birth	Warsaw, Poland
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Olimpia Warszawa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990	Polonez Warszawa
1990–1994	Legia Warsaw	109	(39)
1994–1997	Betis	62	(14)
1997–1999	Las Palmas	28	(6)
2000–2001	Legia Warsaw	15	(3)
2001–2003	Anorthosis	27	(24)
2003–2004	APOEL	16	(3)
2005–2006	Absolwent Warszawa
National team
1991–1999	Poland	39	(11)
Honours Competitor for Poland Men's Football Silver 1992 Barcelona Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Wojciech Kowalczyk (born 14 April 1972) is a retired Polish footballer who played as a striker.

The bulk of his professional career was spent with hometown's 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, aged 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 quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, netting twice in Genoa for the 2–2 draw (3–2 win on aggregate) and qualification for the semifinals.

After having started 1994–95 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 the country 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, and netting a career-best 24 goals. After a nearly non-existent second season (two matches), he finished his professional career in the same country with APOEL, winning the Championship and retiring at the age of 32. Afterwards, he would play in amateur football until 2006, with AZS Absolwent UW Warszawa.

International career

Kowalczyk gained 39 caps for Poland, scoring 11 goals. His debut came at the age of 19 in August 1991, against Sweden.

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.

International goals

Scores and results table. Poland's goal tally first:

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	21 August 1991	Gdynia, Poland	Sweden	2–0	Friendly
2	19 May 1992	Salzburg, Austria	Austria	4–2	Friendly
3	14 October 1992	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Netherlands	2–2	1994 World Cup qualification
4	27 October 1993	Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey	1–2	1994 World Cup qualification
5	25 April 1995	Zabrze, Poland	Israel	4–3	Euro 1996 qualifying
6	1 May 1996	Mielec, Poland	Belarus	1–1	Friendly
7	24 September 1997	Olsztyn, Poland	Lithuania	2–0	Friendly
8	25 March 1998	Warsaw, Poland	Slovenia	2–0	Friendly
9	10 November 1998	Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	3–1	Friendly
10	10 November 1998	Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	3–1	Friendly
11	10 February 1999	Ta' Qali, Malta	Finland	1–1	Friendly

Honours

Club

• Legia:
  • Polish League: 1992–93 (later revoked by the Polish Football Association due to corruption allegations), 1993–94, 1994–95, 2001–02
  • Polish Cup: 1993–94
  • Polish SuperCup: 1994; Runner-up 1990

• Anorthosis:
  • Cypriot Cup: 2001–02

• APOEL:
  • Cypriot League: 2003–04

Country

• Summer Olympic Games: Silver medal 1992

Individual

• Cypriot First Division: Topscorer 2001–02

External links

• 90Minut player profile (Polish)
• BDFutbol profile
• Wojciech Kowalczyk at National-Football-Teams.com
• Official blog (Polish)