Mirosław Szymkowiak (Polish pronunciation: [miˈrɔswaf ʂɨmˈkɔvjak]; born 12 November 1976) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Szymkowiak is also a former member of the Poland national team.
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Mirosław Szymkowiak[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 November 1976 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Poznań, Poland | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Olimpia Poznań | 44 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–2000 | Widzew Łódź | 132 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Wisła Kraków | 91 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Trabzonspor | 55 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2019 | Prądniczanka Kraków | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Podgórze Kraków | 10 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | LKS Szaflary | 17 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| Poland U16 | |||||||||||||||||
| Poland U17 | |||||||||||||||||
| Poland U21 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2006 | Poland | 33 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Career
editBorn in Poznań, Poland, Szymkowiak first started playing at Olimpia Poznań, where he played from 1992 until 1994, when he joined Widzew Łódź. He remained there for five and a half years, when he left to join Wisła Kraków in the middle of the 2000–01 season. He helped them to win the championship in his first season, and to two further championships in 2003 and 2004. In January 2005, he joined the Turkish club Trabzonspor. In his first six months at Trabzonspor he scored nine goals in fifteen starts.
As well as playing for Trabzonspor, Szymkowiak appeared 33 times and scored three goals for the Poland national team. He was selected to the 23-men squad that competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany.
Retirement
editIn December 2007, he announced his retirement from football.[2] Szymkowiak finished his career for health reasons. In an interview for a Polish website he said: "I'm just turning 31, and already I've gone through eight surgeries! I've got four screws in both my knees, one in my ankle. They [doctors, red.] removed one I had in the shoulder, but I also have two titanium nets in my groins. I feel older than my dad, and in a couple of years time I'd like to walk like a normal person."[3] Later, in an interview for Polish newspaper Super Express, he stated that his retirement was mainly attributed to his drug use: he used rofecoxib for his pain problems, which was related to his injuries, but it was found to cause serious blood and bone marrow problems, resulting in lowering his performance and stamina.
Post-playing career
editSzymkowiak works as a pitch reporter for Canal+ Poland. His debut as a reporter was an Ekstraklasa game between GKS Bełchatów and Zagłębie Lubin on 5 April 2007.[4] He also owns two beauty salons in Kraków.
Honours
editWidzew Łódź[5]
- Ekstraklasa: 1995–96, 1996–97
- Polish Super Cup: 1996[6]
Wisła Kraków[7]
- Ekstraklasa: 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05
- Polish Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
- Ekstraklasa Cup: 2000–01[8]
- Polish Super Cup: 2001[9]
Poland U16
References
edit- ^ "Miroslaw Szymkowiak" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ Ajansı, Anadolu (30 December 2007). "Mektup Szymkowiak'tan". NTV Spor (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
- ^ "Szymkowiak: Czuję się inwalidą" (in Polish). sport.pl. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ "Szymkowiak zadebiutował w nowej roli" (in Polish). sport.interia.pl. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ^ "Urodziny Mirosława Szymkowiaka". widzewtomy.net (in Polish). Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "Jedenastka Legend Widzewa - Mirosław Szymkowiak (2)". widzewiak.pl (in Polish). 11 March 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "Wiślacki dyrygent opuszcza scenę: 16 lat od ostatniego meczu Mirosława Szymkowiaka w barwach Białej Gwiazdy" (in Polish). Wisła Kraków. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "Puchar Ligi 2000/2001 - Finał - II mecz". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ "Superpuchar 2001 - Finał". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ "30 lat temu Polacy zostali mistrzami Europy do lat 16. "Nikt nie spodziewał się tego sukcesu"". sport.tvp.pl (in Polish). 8 May 2023.
External links
edit- Mirosław Szymkowiak at Soccerway.com
- Mirosław Szymkowiak at WorldFootball.net
- Mirosław Szymkowiak at National-Football-Teams.com
- Mirosław Szymkowiak at kicker (in German)
- Mirosław Szymkowiak at FBref.com
