Radosław Matusiak (; born 1 January 1982) is a Polish former 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, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker.

Club career

Matusiak's contribution at the senior national team level caught the eyes of a handful of clubs in Europe during the winter transfer window. Speculation of the Polish striker joining Italian side

U.S. Città di Palermo Palermo Football Club () is an Italian professional football club based in Palermo, Sicily, that currently plays in Serie B. It is part of the City Football Group. Founded for the first time on 1 November 1900 as Anglo Palermitan Athletic and F ...

, third-placed in the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

league at the time, was finally realized, when on 30 January 2007 he was announced with the ''rosanero'', after having signed a 3.5-year contract with the Sicilian club worth nearly €2 million. After a couple of substitute appearances, Matusiak made his debut in the starting lineup on 13 May 2007 in a league match against Ascoli, promptly scoring his first

goal. On 24 August 2007 Matusiak signed a three-year contract with an option for a fourth with Dutch side

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

. In January 2008, however, he returned to Poland, being loaned for the duration of the season to

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

. In the summer of 2008 his contract with Heerenveen was canceled by mutual agreement. He spent the first half of the 2008–09 season pursuing interests outside of football but rejected media reports that he had retired from the sport. On 23 December 2008, he signed with

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-wh ...

, and since 21 August 2009 he has played for Cracovia Krakow, signing a two-year contract. On 18 January 2011, he signed a contract with Asteras Tripoli. After that unlucky period in Greece, in February 2012 he returned to his old club –

. He became a free agent at the end of the 2011–12 season.

International career

Matusiak was part of the Polish U-16 team which placed second at Euro U-16 Cup in 1999. In 2006, he got his first senior international cap. He got his first senior goal on 6 September 2006 in a

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 football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifier against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. On 15 November he also scored the only goal in a qualification match against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in Brussels, keeping alive his country's hopes of qualifying.

Career statistics

Honours

Wisła Kraków *

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

: 2007–08 Widzew Łódź *

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

: 2008–09 Poland U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

runner-up:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Individual * Polish Newcomer of the Year: 2006

References

External links

* *
National team stats on pzpn.pl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matusiak, Radoslaw 1982 births Living people Footballers from Łódź Polish men's footballers Poland men's international footballers Poland men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Wisła Kraków players GKS Bełchatów players Wisła Płock players ŁKS Łódź players Palermo FC players Asteras Tripolis F.C. players SC Heerenveen players KS Cracovia players Widzew Łódź players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Serie A players Eredivisie players Super League Greece players Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Polish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Polish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Polish expatriate sportspeople in Greece 21st-century Polish sportsmen