Rafał Gikiewicz (born 26 October 1987) 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

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

Club career

Gikiewicz was born in

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

. In July 2008, he moved to

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home g ...

. In August 2010, he was loaned to

OKS 1945 Olsztyn Stomil Olsztyn is a Polish Association football, football club based in Olsztyn. It was founded on 15 July 1945 as OKS Warmiak. The brightest era of this club was the 1990s when it played in the Polish First League. Between 2004 and 2012 the tea ...

on a one-year deal. He returned to Jagiellonia Białystok half a year later. In January 2011, he joined

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish f ...

on 4.5-year contract. In April 2014, German club Eintracht Braunschweig announced the signing of Gikiewicz for the 2014–15 season. In August 2016, Gikiewicz transferred to

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

. In June 2018, Gikiewicz moved to Union Berlin signing a two-year contract. The transfer fee paid to Freiburg was reported as €200,000. On 7 October 2018, Gikiewicz scored a 94th-minute equalizer against 1. FC Heidenheim in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

. On 1 July 2020, he signed with

club

International career

Due to his successful career in Union Berlin, in May 2019 he received his first call-up to the Poland national team for the first time, during the

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europ ...

Group G matches against

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, but remained unused on the bench.

Personal life

His twin brother Łukasz Gikiewicz is also a footballer. Gikiewicz follows a vegan diet.

Career statistics

Club

¹ Including Ekstraklasa Cup.
² Including

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been pl ...

.
³ Including Bundesliga

promotion play-offs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

Honours

Jagiellonia Białystok *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

: 2009–10 Śląsk Wrocław * Polish Ekstraklasa: 2011–12 *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

References

External links

* 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Olsztyn Polish footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Sokół Ostróda players Wigry Suwałki players Jagiellonia Białystok players OKS Stomil Olsztyn players Śląsk Wrocław players Eintracht Braunschweig players SC Freiburg players 1. FC Union Berlin players FC Augsburg players II liga players Ekstraklasa players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Polish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany {{Poland-footy-goalkeeper-stub