Krzysztof "Chris" Pozniak (born 10 January 1981) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired soccer player.

Club career

Pozniak emigrated from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

with his parents Tadeusz and Elżbieta, and sister Kinga, to Canada in 1990. He is able to speak Polish. He began his professional career with the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

at age 18. Poźniak has since played for

FK Haugesund Fotballklubben Haugesund (English: ''Football Club Haugesund''), usually referred to as FK Haugesund or FKH, is a professional Norwegian football club from the city of Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. The club currently plays in the Norwegian Elites ...

of the Norwegian Second division and

Örebro SK Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...

of the Allsvenskan in Sweden. On 22 November 2006,

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

manager

Mo Johnston Maurice John Giblin Johnston (born 13 April 1963) is a Scottish football player and coach. Johnston, who played as a forward, started his senior football career with Partick Thistle in 1981. He moved to Watford in 1983, where he scored 23 leag ...

announced the signings of Pozniak along with fellow Canadians Adam Braz and

Marco Reda Marco Reda (born June 22, 1977) is a Canadian former soccer player who began his professional career in the USL A-League with the Toronto Lynx where he developed his skills as a solid defender. This led to his transfer to Europe to sign with Sogn ...

for TFC's inaugural season. In his first year at TFC, Pozniak featured in the defense and midfield acting as a backup and occasional starter. On 21 November 2007, Pozniak was selected tenth by the San Jose Earthquakes in the

2007 MLS Expansion Draft The 2007 MLS Expansion Draft was held on November 21, 2007, and is a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team San Jose Earthquakes. They made 10 selections from a pool of players from current MLS clubs. Format * Only one player may ...

. On 28 March 2008 he was traded to CD Chivas USA for John Cunliffe. In May 2008 he moved to

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

. He was released in July with a link to Europe. Pozniak signed a one-year deal with Dundee on 7 August 2008 and left the club on 29 June 2009. At Dundee he scored once against Queen of the South. On 30 July 2009, the Whitecaps announced that they had signed him for a second spell at the club. The deal lasted until the end of the season, and had an option for 2010, which was not picked up. On 12 December 2012, it was revealed that

had released him from his contract with the club and the player was moving into retirement.,

International career

Pozniak has been capped by

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at the U20, U23, and senior levels. He competed in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina. His first senior cap for Canada came in the

2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the sixth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Miami and Pasadena. The forma ...

against Haiti as a late game substitute. He has since earned a total of 24 caps, scoring no goals, and become an important contributing member for Canada's squad. He has represented Canada in 3 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.

Coaching career

On 29 April 2015, K-W United FC announced that Chris Pozniak would be the team's new head coach. He would lead United to an 11-2-1 season and the PDL playoffs. In the playoffs, United would beat the Des Moines Menace, Michigan Bucks, Seattle Sounders U23 and New York Red Bulls U23's to claim the PDL North American Championship. Pozniak is currently an assistant coach of Toronto FC II.

Career stats

References

External links

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archive
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Player profile
– Vancouover Whitecaps {{DEFAULTSORT:Pozniak, Chris 1981 births Living people Footballers from Kraków Polish emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Association football defenders Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian expatriate soccer players Pan American Games competitors for Canada Footballers at the 1999 Pan American Games 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Toronto Lynx players Örebro SK players FK Haugesund players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Toronto FC players Chivas USA players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Dundee F.C. players Bryne FK players Allsvenskan players Norwegian First Division players Eliteserien players Major League Soccer players USL First Division players Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate soccer players in the United States Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canadian soccer coaches Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland