Krzysztof Nowak (; 27 September 1975 – 26 May 2005) was a Polish football player, best known for his stint with the

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

team. Nowak began playing football in 1985. He slowly rose in prominence and in 1996 moved to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

with fellow countryman Mariusz Piekarski to play for Atlético Paranaense. He always wanted to play in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, so he moved to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in 1998 to play for Wolfsburg. Nowak, dubbed "ten of hearts" by his fans, was popular as well as skilled, but was forced to retire from the sport in early 2002 after he learned he had motor neurone disease (MND). Nowak continued to watch the games until shortly before his death. Nowak was also an important player for the Polish national team, for whom he played 10 games and scored one goal. In 2002, Nowak began a foundation to help find a cure for MND (he died from this illness). Nowak left behind a wife, Beata, and two young children – a son, Maksymillian, and a daughter, Maria. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge brought the foundation in Germany much attention, since many Germans who participated in it, donated the money to the foundation.

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* Polish footballers 1975 births 2005 deaths Deaths from motor neuron disease Neurological disease deaths in Germany Club Athletico Paranaense players Panachaiki F.C. players Legia Warsaw players Bundesliga players VfL Wolfsburg players Poland international footballers Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Germany Ekstraklasa players Footballers from Warsaw GKS Tychy players Association football midfielders Sokół Pniewy players {{Poland-footy-midfielder-stub