Stanisław Franciszek Baran (26 April 1920 – 12 May 1993) was an

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

Polish football player, who started his career in Resovia Rzeszów, then, sometime in 1938 (at the age of around 18) moved to

Warszawianka Warszawa Klub Sportowy Warszawianka is a Polish multi-sport club from Warsaw. It has several sections, including handball, track and field, fencing and tennis, and in the past it had several more, including a football team which competed in the Polish to ...

. Regarded as one of the most gifted players of these times, however

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

stopped his career for a few years. Baran was a member of the Poland national team in

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, bea ...

, but did not play in the legendary game Poland –

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

5–6 (5 June 1938, Strasbourg,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

) – he spent the whole match on the bench. Also, played in the last international friendly of interwar Poland (Poland –

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

4–2, 27 August 1939,

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 ...

). In this game, he appeared on the field as a replacement, in 31st minute. In 1958, as a 38-year-old footballing veteran, Baran won the championships of Poland, with the team of

ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, athletics and in the past ice ...

See also