Kamil Jacek Glik (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 February 1988) 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, rugb ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

club

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

and the Poland national team. The previous clubs Glik played for include

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

from 2008 to 2010,

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

from 2010 to 2011,

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

from 2011 to 2016 and

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

from 2017 to 2020, the latter two of which he was appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the team. He represented Poland at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

and the 2022 World Cup.

Early life

Kamil Glik's paternal grandfather, Walter Glück, was

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

n, he was forcibly conscripted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. After the war, he stayed in what then became Poland. Glik therefore also holds German citizenship in addition to his

Polish citizenship Polish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. Children born to at least one Polish parent acquire Polish citizenship irrespective of place of birth. Besides other things, Polish citizenship entitles the person to ...

. In his German documents his surname is written out in German version ''Glück'' instead of the

polonized Polonization (or Polonisation; pl, polonizacja)In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэя� ...

version ''Glik''. Despite this, Glik has repeatedly said that he does not feel any connection with Germany and considers himself 100% Polish. He has a daughter with his wife Marta, whom he had known since elementary school. In 2013, Italian rapper Willie Peyote dedicated a song to him titled "Glik".

Club career

Early career

Glik began his career in the youth ranks of ''MOSiR Jastrzębie Zdrój'' and WSP Wodzisław Śląski, then moved on loan to ''LKS Silesia Lubomia''. In 2006, he moved from WSP Wodzisław Śląski to Horadada in Spain, where he was noticed by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and registered with the club's "C" team. He played there for two seasons, until 2008. On 6 August 2008, he signed a four-year contract with Polish top division side

. He made his debut on 30 August 2008, when he came on as a substitute. Subsequently, he became a regular in the team's starting eleven. He played 26 games in his first season with the club, and he scored 2 goals in 28 games in the 2009–10 season.

Palermo

At the end of the season it was reported that he had begun talks with Italian side U.S. Città di Palermo; on 7 July 2010 he signed with Sicilian club, who purchased him outright on a five-year contract. The transfer was finalised by the

Lega Serie A The Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A (Italian for ''National Professionals League Serie A''), commonly known as LNPA or Lega Serie A (Serie A League), is the governing body that runs the major professional football competitions in Italy, m ...

after seven days. He made his debut with the ''Rosaneri'' in the

2010–11 UEFA Europa League The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, w ...

play-off round against Slovenia's

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava sta ...

(won 3–0), played as a starter. It was also his official debut in an international club competition. Following his debut he was almost never included in the first team, and until the winter break, only collected three more appearances in the group stage of the Europa League.

Bari (loan)

A few days before the official reopening of the transfer market, Palermo granted an exemption and allowed him to train – with a recovery date set for 28 December – with his new team,

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...

. He moved to Bari until the end of season, strongly backed by the coach

Giampiero Ventura Gian Piero Ventura (; born 14 January 1948) is an Italian football manager. His playing career as a midfielder was spent in the lower leagues, having not made the grade at Sampdoria, where he began his coaching career with the youth team in 197 ...

. The contract was filed on 4 January 2011, and after the resumption of the league, 6 January, he was deployed as a starter in the Puglia derby,

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label= Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the provi ...

Bari (0–1), his debut in the Italian top division. With the ''Galletti'' he was a starter, playing 16 games in the league and one in

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

. In the 35th round, Bari

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

(2–3), he earnt a red card and a subsequent three-match ban which effectively concluded his season. He returned to Palermo, but was not called up for the summer retreat, and was then put on the market.

Torino

On 12 July 2011, after having already supported Torino's training camp, he transferred to Turin in a co-ownership deal, in Serie B, for €300,000.US Città di Palermo SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013
PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
/ref> He made his debut on 13 August in Torino Lumezzane, (1–0) in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

, played as a starter. He scored his first goal in the 34th round, in the match Torino - Reggina, later suspended due to bad weather (the conclusion of the game did not change the result). At the end of the season, he was promoted to Serie A, having played 23 games in the league (with 2 goals) and one in Coppa Italia. On 31 October 2012 he scored his first goal in Serie A in the tenth day of the league away to Lazio, opening the scoring with a header following a corner. The match finished 1–1. He played his first

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

in the 2012–13 season, collecting two appearances and as many expulsions (the first player in the history of the league to be sent-off in both legs of a derby) and became an idol of the Torino fans. On 20 June, Torino acquired his remaining contract from Palermo for a fee of €1.5 million, resolving the co-ownership.US Città di Palermo SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013
PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
/ref> For the 2013–14 season, Glik was appointed

of the team after the departure of

Rolando Bianchi Rolando Bianchi (; born 15 February 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. With 77 total goals, he is Torino's 11th-highest all-time goal scorer. Bianchi was primarily known for his ability in the air. C ...

. On 9 December 2013, he scored the winning goal, 1–0, against Lazio, in Turin. He ended the season with 34 league appearances – which concluded with Torino's qualification to the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

after

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second m ...

failed to obtain a UEFA license – and two goals, plus an appearance in the

. On 25 May 2014, he renewed his contract until 2017. On 31 July 2014, he made his debut with the ''Granata'' in international competition, playing the first leg of the third qualifying round of the

, won 3–0 against the Swedes

Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club located in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is ...

. On 24 September 2014, during an away fixture against

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

, he scored the momentary 1–1 in his hundredth game for Torino; Torino would win the match against the Sardinians 2–1. On 21 December 2014, at the

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian N ...

in Turin, he scored his first brace in Serie A during a 2–1 comeback win over

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. On 10 January 2015, he scored the equaliser, 1–1, against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

and on 1 March, he scored the winning goal, 1–0, against Napoli. On 19 March, he scored his first goal in the Europa League with a header during the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

against

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

. His goal brought Torino to 1–0, but not enough to overcome the 2 goal deficit from the first leg. On 5 April, he scored the second goal in a momentary 2–0 lead over

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily kno ...

(the game would end 2–1). On 20 December 2015, he renewed with the Piedmontese club until 2020. In total, he played 171 matches and scored 13 goals for Torino.

Monaco

On 4 July 2016, Glik was sold to

for a reported fee of €11 million plus €4 million in bonuses, signing a four-year contract. In an official statement on the Torino website, the club stated "It has been five wonderful years, intense, full of emotions and mutual satisfaction. President Cairo and the whole Torino FC salute Glik with great affection, wishing him the best that his career can offer." On 27 September 2016, Glik fired in a half-volley from the edge of the penalty box four minutes into second-half stoppage time to cancel out

Javier Hernández Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. He is known ...

's goal, enabling Monaco to snatch a 1–1 home draw in their 2016–17 UEFA Champions League Group E encounter against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

with their first and only shot on target of the match. Glik played a main part in the Monaco side which won the 2016–17

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

title making 36 appearances and scoring 6 goals.

Benevento

On 11 August 2020, newly promoted Serie A club

announced the signing of Glik from Monaco on a three-year contract.

International career

Glik made 14 appearances and scored three goals for the Poland under-21. In 2010, he made his debut for the senior national team, after originally being called up without debuting in a game on 18 December 2009. Glik was the first

player to ever be called up to Polish national team. He made his debut on 20 January 2010 in the

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nat ...

against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, scoring 43 minutes into his debut, won 3–1. On 17 October 2012, he scored the equalizing goal in a 2014 World Cup Qualifying game against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He played an important role in Poland's Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and Euro 2016 campaign. He made the most clearances out of any other player in the tournament, and scored 2 penalties in two penalty shoot-outs; one of them in a 5–4 win against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and the other in a 5–3 defeat to eventual champions

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. In June 2018, he became part of the Polish squad for the

in Russia. In May 2021, he was included in the final squad for the postponed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

. However, Poland left the two competitions from the group stage. On 10 November 2022, he received a call-up for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wor ...

in Qatar. On 22 November, he played his 100th match for Poland, which was the first game in the World Cup against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Style of play

Glik is a tall

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

with great physicality, but also good mobility; his biggest strength is undoubtedly his aerial ability, both in marking and on set pieces in the opposing area. He is also known for his leadership on the pitch.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Glik goal.''

Honours

Monaco *

: 2016–17 Individual * UNFP

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: *BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award *Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year *IRB International Sevens Team of the Year *IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of the ...

: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Glik, Kamil 1988 births Living people Polish footballers Polish people of German descent Citizens of Germany through descent UD Horadada players Tercera División players Piast Gliwice players Ekstraklasa players Real Madrid C footballers Palermo F.C. players S.S.C. Bari players Torino F.C. players AS Monaco FC players Benevento Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Ligue 1 players People from Jastrzębie-Zdrój Poland under-21 international footballers Poland international footballers Polish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Monaco Expatriate footballers in Italy Polish expatriate sportspeople in France Polish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Polish expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Polish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship Association football central defenders UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Century Club