Paweł Kieszek (; born 16 April 1984) is a Polish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for União Leiria. After starting out at

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw ( pl, Polonia Warszawa, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing Varsovian sports club, best known for its football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, swimming, chess, mountain biking, and contract ...

he went on to spend most of his professional career in Portugal, signing in 2007 with

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

. He also played three years in the Spanish Segunda División, with Córdoba and Málaga.

Club career

Born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Kieszek began his professional career at local

in the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

. In January 2006 he was loaned to Greek club Egaleo FC, where he remained until the end of the year; he returned to Polonia, which had been relegated to the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in his absence, for 2006–07, playing only a few games before getting injured and missing the rest of the season. Kieszek signed with

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

in Portugal in June 2007, on a free transfer. He made his debut for his new team on 21 February 2008 in a 0–1 home loss against SV Werder Bremen in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

round of 32, first appearing in the Primeira Liga three days later against

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

(1–1). In January 2009, Kieszek joined Vitória F.C. on loan until the end of the campaign, being relatively used during his spell as the '' Sadinos'' managed to retain their top-flight status. Upon his return to

, he was a backup to

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

international

Eduardo Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male given name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Eduardo Bonvallet, Chilean football player and sports commentator * Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footba ...

. In July 2010, after an uneventful 2009–10 with Braga – the side finished second, but he only appeared in three matches in that season's Portuguese League Cup, conceding four goals – Kieszek signed a four-year contract with FC Porto, with Braga retaining 50% of his economic rights. In August of the following year, after only four official appearances, he was loaned to

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisi ...

from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On 16 June 2014, after two years with former team Setúbal, Kieszek agreed to a two-year deal with G.D. Estoril Praia. On 13 July 2016, after 62 competitive matches, he switched clubs and countries again, joining Spanish Segunda División's Córdoba CF. On 31 August 2018, as Córdoba's financial situation prevented his registration, Kieszek terminated his contract and moved to fellow league side Málaga CF. He returned to Portugal and its top tier 11 months later, agreeing to a two-year deal at

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,5 ...

Club statistics

Honours

Porto * Primeira Liga:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kieszek, Pawel 1984 births Living people Polish footballers Footballers from Warsaw Men's association football goalkeepers Ekstraklasa players I liga players Super League Greece players Primeira Liga players Eredivisie players Segunda División players Polonia Warsaw players Egaleo F.C. players S.C. Braga players Vitória F.C. players FC Porto players Roda JC Kerkrade players G.D. Estoril Praia players Córdoba CF players Málaga CF players Rio Ave F.C. players Wisła Kraków players U.D. Leiria players Poland men's youth international footballers Polish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Spain Polish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Polish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Polish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Polish expatriate sportspeople in Spain