Robert Gadocha (born 10 January 1946 in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
) is a retired
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
soccer player
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 ...
, most notable for playing for
Legia Warsaw
Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...
.
Gadocha, who started his career in
Garbarnia Kraków
K.S. Garbarnia Kraków is a Polish football and sports club from Ludwinów, a historical district of the city of Kraków. The club's name comes from the nearby tannery () of the Dłużyński brothers, which was the original club sponsor. Garbarni ...
. later also played for
FC Nantes
Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, a ...
, and briefly in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for
Chicago Sting
The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1 ...
, his last professional team. He was a member of the
Poland national team that won the gold medal at the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, as well as a member of the team that finished third in the
1974 FIFA World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...
in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. He has a total of 16 goals in 62 games with the Poland national team.
Robert Gadocha holds the record for the most assists in a single match in
World Cup finals history, assisting four goals
in his team's 7–0 victory against
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
in the group stage of the 1974 World Cup. In addition, he holds the record for the most player assists in one tournament, with five assists in the same tournament, alongside with
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
(1970),
Pierre Littbarski
Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder o ...
(1982),
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
(1986) and
Thomas Hassler (1994).
In 1978, Gadocha moved to the
Chicago Sting
The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1 ...
of the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
. He also spent one season, 1980–81, with the
Hartford Hellions
The Hartford Hellions were a soccer team based out of Hartford, Connecticut that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. They played from 1979 to 1981. The Hellions played their first season in the New Haven Coliseum before moving to the remo ...
of the
Major Indoor Soccer League.
References
External links
*
NASL/MISL stats*
1946 births
Living people
Chicago Sting (NASL) players
Expatriate footballers in France
Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Hartford Hellions players
Legia Warsaw players
Ligue 1 players
Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
Olympic gold medalists for Poland
Olympic footballers of Poland
Footballers from Kraków
Polish footballers
Polish expatriate footballers
Poland international footballers
Association football midfielders
FC Nantes players
1974 FIFA World Cup players
Olympic medalists in football
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
Polish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Association football forwards
Polish expatriate sportspeople in France
{{Poland-Olympic-medalist-stub