Jacek Kamil Krzynówek (; born 15 May 1976) is a former Polish
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 ...
.
He is regarded as one of the best Polish footballers. He has earned many awards and trophies, not only in Poland, but also abroad. He has earned the honour of twice being named the Polish Footballer of the Year by magazine ''Pilka Nozna'' in 2003 and 2004. He has appeared in 96 international matches for Poland, scoring 15 goals. He is also a member of the Elite Polish National Team Footballers by the
PZPN.
One of his career highlights of his career was scoring a highly acclaimed goal against
Real Madrid in the 2004–05
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
.
Career
Early career
Krzynówek's football career started with LZS Chrzanowice. In 1994 he joined RKS Radomsko where he played two seasons and then moved to another Polish club,
Raków Częstochowa
Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna (commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of na ...
, in which he made his debut on 28 July 1996 in the Polish
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
.
After a season with Raków, he moved to
second division club,
GKS Bełchatów. In the 1997–98 season, he with his team advanced to the
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
. His club was unable to keep itself in the top division, and was relegated back to the second division. Despite this, his skills and play impressed scouts from other clubs, including
1. FC Nürnberg
1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...
, as well as the coach of the Polish national team,
Janusz Wójcik.
International career and Bundesliga
Whilst still a player for
GKS Bełchatów, he made his debut for the
Polish national team on 10 November 1998 against
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
in a 3–1 Poland win. In 1999, he moved to
1. FC Nürnberg
1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...
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 ...
. He made his return to the national team in the beginning of 2000, after
Jerzy Engel became coach. Very shortly, he became one of the most important players in the team that qualified for the
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...
.
In 2002, he contributed to the promotion of 1. FC Nürnberg to the
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 footbal ...
, and was named the best left midfielder in the 2. Bundesliga. Also in 2002, he went to South Korea and Japan for the 2002 World Cup with Poland. Despite a poor performance by Poland, he was praised for his play, and appeared in all three matches.
As a result of an injury, he missed most of the 2002–03 season. In the fall of 2003, he played in crucial
UEFA Euro 2004
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...
qualifying matches for Poland. Poland failed to qualify and
1. FC Nürnberg
1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...
was unable avoid relegation from the Bundesliga.
As a result of his excellent play, he was transferred to a top Bundesliga club,
Bayer Leverkusen. In the 2004–05 season, he was one of the best players for the club, and the trio of Krzynowek,
Andriy Voronin, and
Dimitar Berbatov drew the attention of many top European clubs. Bayer Leverkusen also played very well in the Champions League, where it eliminated such clubs as
Real Madrid and
A.S. Roma. Krzynówek scored 3 goals, one of which was scored versus Real Madrid, which was named one of the most beautiful goals in that year's tournament.
In August 2005, he was part of the national team's triumphant performance at the
Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament 2005. During
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, he played in the most important games for Poland and contributed to Poland's qualification to the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
in Germany. As a result of another injury during the spring of 2006, he was unable to play regularly at his club,
Bayer Leverkusen. This was evident in his poor form during the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
and was one of the poorest performers in the Polish team as they lost 2–0 to the surprising
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...
and 1–0 to hosts
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
. After a disappointing 2005–06 season, he moved to
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
.
Krzynówek was a key player in the
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign for Poland where he scored four goals; three against
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
and an astonishing equalizer in the 87th minute against
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
. His left-foot strike from 40 yards hit the post and the back of Portuguese keeper
Ricardo before squeezing into the back of the net. Thanks to a very successful all around performance he was then picked into
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...
's dream team as the left midfielder and Poland's squad for
UEFA Euro 2008
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...
where the Poles competed for the first time in their history.
On 17 November 2007,
Wisła Kraków
Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. ...
announced that they were interested in purchasing Krzynówek during the
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
transfer window, but after negotiations the Polish club could not agree to terms with
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
.
On 2 February 2009, Krzynówek moved to
Hannover 96
Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betw ...
where he stayed until the summer of 2010.
Retirement and post-retirement
On 15 August 2011, Krzynówek officially announced his retirement after 178 matches in the
German top-flight.
Between 1 July 2015 and 31 May 2016 he was the
sporting director at
GKS Bełchatów.
International goals
:Source:
References
External links
Official site of Jacek Krzynówek
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Leverkusen-who's who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krzynowek, Jacek
Living people
1976 births
People from Radomsko County
Sportspeople from Łódź Voivodeship
Association football midfielders
Polish footballers
GKS Bełchatów players
1. FC Nürnberg players
Bayer 04 Leverkusen players
VfL Wolfsburg players
Hannover 96 players
RKS Radomsko players
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
Expatriate footballers in Germany
Poland international footballers
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
Polish expatriate footballers
UEFA Euro 2008 players
Ekstraklasa players
Raków Częstochowa players