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Maciej Żurawski

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Maciej Żurawski
Personal information
Full name Maciej Stanisław Żurawski
Date of birth (1976-09-12) 12 September 1976 (age 48)[1]
Place of birth Poznań, Polish People's Republic
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1982–1994 Warta Poznań
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1997 Warta Poznań 59 (5)
1997–1999 Lech Poznań 56 (19)
1999–2005 Wisła Kraków 153 (101)
2005–2008 Celtic 55 (22)
2008–2009 AEL 38 (15)
2009–2010 Omonia Nicosia 23 (8)
2010–2011 Wisła Kraków 21 (1)
2014–2015 Poroniec Poronin 32 (21)
Total 437 (192)
International career
1998–2008 Poland 72 (17)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Maciej Stanisław Żurawski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈmatɕɛj ʐuˈrafski]; born 12 September 1976) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Żurawski appeared 72 times and scored 17 goals for Poland, representing them at two World Cups and Euro 2008. He also scored 121 goals in the Polish Ekstraklasa (11th most in history) and was the top league goalscorer twice.[2][3] He also played in Scotland, Greece and Cyprus.

Club career

Warta Poznań

Born in Poznań, Żurawski started his career as a youth at Warta Poznań, the club where his father Andrzej was one of the football coaches. He made his debut for Warta Poznań in Ekstraklasa on 31 July 1994 in a league match against Widzew Łódż, at the age of 17. At the end of his first season, Warta was relegated from the Ekstraklasa.[4]

Lech Poznań

In November 1997, Żurawski went to Lech Poznań on a six-month loan. The loan was extended and, finally, he moved to Lech Poznań on a permanent transfer. Żurawski scored his first Ekstraklasa goal on 29 March 1998 against Górnik Zabrze. In his last game for Lech on 26 September 1999, he scored two goals against his new club Wisła Kraków. When leaving Lech, he gave autographed cards to fans with the dedication 'Remember Żuraw, the boy who left his heart in Poznań'.[4]

Wisła Kraków

Żurawski made his debut for Wisła Kraków in Ekstraklasa on 2 November 1999 in a match against ŁKS Łódź.[5] On 4 March 2000, he scored his first goal for Wisla in the Ekstraklasa in a match against Odra Wodzisław.[6] He won the Ekstraklasa championship in 2000–01 season with Wisła Kraków.[7] In 2001–02 season, Żurawski scored 21 goals in 27 matches and was the Ekstraklasa top goalscorer. In 2002–03 season Żurawski played very well in UEFA Cup, where he scored ten goals in ten matches, including seven goals in matches against Parma, Schalke 04 and Lazio.[8] When Kamil Kosowski left Wisła Kraków, Żurawski has been chosen new Wisła Kraków captain. In 2003–04 season Żurawski scored 20 goals in 26 matches and led Wisła Kraków to achieve the Ekstraklasa title. He was the Ekstraklasa top goalscorer in 2003–04 season. In 2004–05 he won his fourth Ekstraklasa title with Wisła Kraków. In this season he scored 24 goals in 25 matches for Wisła in Ekstraklasa.[9]

Celtic

Żurawski playing for Celtic against Basel in July 2007

He joined Scottish Premier League side Celtic from Wisła Kraków in July 2005 and signed a three-year contract. He inherited the number 7 shirt from Juninho Paulista (previously with Henrik Larsson), and was nicknamed "Magic Żurawski" by the fans.[10][11]

On 19 February 2006, Żurawski scored four goals as Celtic set a new SPL record by beating Dunfermline Athletic 8–1 at East End Park. Żurawski was subsequently voted the SPL Player of the Month for February. Zurawski finished Celtic's joint top scorer in the 2005–06 season along with John Hartson with 20 goals each.[12]

For the 2006–07 season, Celtic signed strikers Kenny Miller and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink as replacements for Hartson and Dion Dublin. Żurawski formed decent strike partnerships with both players. Having made a good start to the season, notching up 10 goals by January 2007, Żurawski then suffered an injury that kept him out for most of the season and scored no further goals during the campaign.

Żurawski with Wisła Kraków

Chris Killen and Scott McDonald were signed before the start of season 2007–08. Żurawski started Celtic's opening day clash with Kilmarnock at Celtic Park,[13] but fell down the pecking order after McDonald returned from suspension and Killen came back from injury. The only other impact Żurawski made during the season was scoring the winning penalty in a Champions League penalty shootout against Spartak Moscow.[14] His time at Celtic was ultimately over after the signing of Georgios Samaras in January 2008.[15]

Larissa

On the deadline day of the 2008 winter transfer window he was signed by the Greek side A.E. Larissa for £500,000. He scored a goal in his Greek league debut, the only goal of the game to defeat AEK Athens 1–0. Żurawski was Larissa's top scorer for 2008–09 season with nine goals.

Omonia Nicosia

On 2 June 2009, it was announced that Żurawski had signed for Cypriot League runners-up Omonia Nicosia. He played for Omonia for one year and helped the team to return to titles after five years. He was released in May 2010.

Wisła Kraków

On 30 June 2010, Żurawski returned to Wisła Kraków after five years, on a one-year deal. In the 2010–11 season he won his fifth Ekstraklasa title with Wisła.

International career

Żurawski in a match against Costa Rica in 2006 FIFA World Cup

World Cup 2002

Żurawski was selected in the Poland national team's 23-man squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan. He played in all three of the team's games and missed a penalty in the match against the United States, although Poland won 3–1.

World Cup 2006

He was selected in the 23-man Polish squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. His side finished third in the group and were eliminated at the first hurdle, losing to hosts Germany and a determined Ecuador before defeating Costa Rica. Zurawski did not score in any of the three matches.

Euro 2008

Zurawski was named as Captain in Poland's Euro 2008 squad, starting their first game against Germany on 8 June but later got injured and was substituted at half time. This injury meant that he would miss the rest of the tournament and the captaincy was given to Jacek Bąk and Michał Żewłakow for the second and third group stage matches.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Domestic League Domestic Cups European Cups Other [16] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Warta Poznań 1994–95 Ekstraklasa 21 0 0 0 21 0
1995–96 I liga 22 1 0 0 22 1
1996–97 II liga 2 0 2 0
1997–98 I liga 16 4 16 4
Total 59 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 61 5
Lech Poznań 1997–98 Ekstraklasa 17 2 1 0 18 2
1998–99 Ekstraklasa 30 11 1 0 31 11
1999–2000 Ekstraklasa 9 6 1 0 4 2 14 8
Total 56 19 3 0 4 2 0 0 63 21
Wisła Kraków 1999–2000 Ekstraklasa 20 6 7 2 27 8
2000–01 Ekstraklasa 27 8 7 3 6 0 40 11
2001–02 Ekstraklasa 27 21 8 7 8 4 43 32
2002–03 Ekstraklasa 28 22 7 6 10 10 45 38
2003–04 Ekstraklasa 26 20 1 0 8 5 35 25
2004–05 Ekstraklasa 25 24 11 6 5 3 41 33
Total 153 101 41 24 37 22 0 0 241 149
Celtic 2005–06 Scottish Premier League 24 16 4 4 2 0 30 20
2006–07 Scottish Premier League 26 6 3 4 5 0 34 10
2007–08 Scottish Premier League 5 0 0 0 3 0 8 0
Total 55 22 7 8 10 0 0 0 72 30
Larissa 2007–08 Super League Greece 11 6 1 0 12 6
2008–09 Super League Greece 27 9 2 0 4 0 33 9
Total 38 15 3 0 0 0 4 0 45 15
Omonia 2009–10 A Katigoria 23 8 4 2 3 2 30 12
Wisła Kraków 2010–11 Ekstraklasa 21 1 3 1 4 1 28 3
Poroniec Poronin 2013–14 III liga 2 2 2 2
2014–15 III liga 20 14 20 14
2015–16 III liga 10 5 10 5
Total 32 21 32 21
Career total 437 192 63 35 58 27 4 0 562 254

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Poland 1998 1 0
1999 3 0
2000 2 0
2001 1 0
2002 11 4
2003 7 1
2004 12 4
2005 11 6
2006 11 0
2007 8 1
2008 5 1
Total 72 17

International goals

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Żurawski goal.
List of international goals scored by Maciej Żurawski
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 February 2002 Limassol, Cyprus  Faroe Islands 2–1 Friendly
2
3 18 May 2002 Warsaw, Poland  Estonia 1–0 Friendly
4 21 August 2002 Szczecin, Poland  Belgium 1–1 Friendly
5 16 November 2003 Płock, Poland  Serbia and Montenegro 4–3 Friendly
6 18 August 2004 Poznań, Poland  Denmark 1–5 Friendly
7 4 September 2004 Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 3–0 2006 World Cup qualification
8 8 September 2004 Chorzów, Poland  England 1–2 2006 World Cup qualification
9 13 October 2004 Cardiff, Wales  Wales 3–2 2006 World Cup qualification
10 9 February 2005 Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Poland  Belarus 1–3 Friendly
11 30 March 2005 Warsaw, Poland  Northern Ireland 1–0 2006 World Cup qualification
12 29 May 2005 Szczecin, Poland  Albania 1–0 Friendly
13 4 June 2005 Baku, Azerbaijan  Azerbaijan 3–0 2006 World Cup qualification
14 3 September 2005 Chorzów, Poland  Austria 3–2 2006 World Cup qualification
15 7 September 2005 Warsaw, Poland  Wales 1–0 2006 World Cup qualification
16 28 March 2007 Kielce, Poland  Armenia 1–0 Euro 2008 qualification
17 27 May 2008 Reutlingen, Germany  Albania 1–0 Friendly

Honours

Wisła Kraków

Celtic

Omonia

Individual

  • Ekstraklasa top goalscorer: 2001–02, 2003–04
  • Polish Footballer of the Year: 2002
  • Football Oscar "Footballer of the Year": 2002
  • Ekstraklasa Footballer of the Year: 2001, 2002
  • Ekstraklasa Striker of the Year: 2003
  • SPL Player of the Month: February 2006

References

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ Polska, Grupa Wirtualna. "Lotto Ekstraklasa - Piłka nożna - WP SportoweFakty".
  3. ^ "Historia Klub 100 bramek - Piłka nożna - Onet.pl Sport". Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b Nosal, Bartosz (24 February 2012). "Wychowanek Warty i gwiazda Lecha kończy karierę". Gazeta Wyborcza.
  5. ^ Kusina, Maciej. "Wisła Kraków 1-0 Łódzki KS".
  6. ^ Kusina, Maciej. "Wisła Kraków 3-1 Odra Wodzisław Śląski".
  7. ^ Kusina, Maciej. "I liga 2000/2001".
  8. ^ Kusina, Maciej. "Puchar UEFA 2002/2003".
  9. ^ "Maciej Żurawski" (in Polish). 90minut.pl.
  10. ^ "'Magic' Zurawski, a Pole apart". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Polish World Cup star tips Zurawski to weave magic in Germany". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  12. ^ Zurawski is player of the month, BBC Sport.
  13. ^ "Celtic 0-0 Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. 5 August 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  14. ^ Harris, Nick (30 August 2007). "Celtic 1 Spartak Moscow 1 (Celtic win 4-3 on pens): Boruc the hero as Celtic see off Spartak in shoot-out drama". The Independent. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  15. ^ "Maciej Zurawski's Shock Swipe At Celtic". Daily Record. 14 March 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  16. ^ Including play-off matches