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Wojciech Szczesny 2018 by Екатерина Лаут.

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Wojciech Szczesny

Wojciech Szczesny is a Polish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Serie A club Juventus. He also plays for the Poland national team. He was born on 18 April 1990 in Warsaw, Poland. His father is a former professional footballer.

Wojciech first played for the Polish football club, Legia Warsaw, from 2005 to 2006 before joining Arsenal’s youth setup. He would later play for Brentford and Roma, before signing with Juventus. He has won two FA Cups (Football Association Challenge Cup), an annual knockout football competition.

 His stellar performances as a goalkeeper earned him a Yashin Trophy nomination in 2019. He is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He won the Series A Best Goalkeeper Award in the 2019-20 season.

Wojciech has had an interesting football career so far, and here are some of the top interesting facts about him.

1. His father is a former professional footballer

Former Polish association football player and coach Maciej Szczęsny. Photo by Roger Gorączniak.

Wojciech is the son of Maciej Szczesny. Maciej is a former footballer who played for 4 Polish football clubs as a goalkeeper. The clubs include Legia Warsaw, Polonia Warsaw, Wisla Krakow and Widzew Lodz.

He also played for the Poland national football team. He is the only player to have won a Polish championship with four clubs. His sons, Wojciech and Jan have followed in his steps. Wojciech plays as a goalkeeper at Juventus and Jan is a goalkeeper for a Polish football club, PKS Radosc Warsaw.

2. Wojciech started his club career at Legia Warsaw

As a young player, Wojciech trained at Agrykola Warsaw in 2004. In 2005, at age 15, he was allowed to take part in a training camp with Legia Warsaw’s first team by the club’s goalkeeping coach Dowhan. Dowhan had been impressed by the young keeper’s skill and potential.

 Legia Warsaw is considered the most successful Polish football club in history, with a record win of 19 Polish Cup and 4 Polish SuperCup trophies. Wojciech subsequently joined the club for a year before moving to Arsenal’s youth setup.

3. He signed for Arsenal in 2006

Wojciech Szczęsny and Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal. Photo by Joshjdss.

Wojciech joined the Arsenal youth set-up in January 2006. He made it to the reserve team in the 2008-09 season. Unfortunately, he had to miss 5 months after he accidentally fractured his forearms in November 2008.

He later sat on the first team bench during the Premier League match against Stoke City on 24 May 2009. Arsenal concluded the season with a 4-1 victory but Wojciech still had not been granted any action on the pitch.

4. He made his professional debut in 2009

Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny warm up before a match with Chelsea. Photo by Ronnie MacDonald.

During the 2009-10 season, Wojciech progressed to the senior squad. He made his first team debut in the Football League Cup third round.

It’s a knockout competition for top clubs in the English football league system. He kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win against West Bromwich Albion.

The club manager, Arsene Wenger commented that he believed Wojciech would one day be Arsenal’s number one since he had all the qualities of a goalkeeper. He identified him as a future great goalkeeper.

5. He has played for Poland’s national team

Poland National team at the UEFA Euro 2012. Photo by Piotr Drabik.

He played for Poland’s under-21 team and started in three 2011 European Championship qualifying matches. He has a total of six caps for the Under-21 squad. He has also played for the senior team. He made his debut against Canada in 2009.

He has taken part in the UEFA Euro 2012, Euro 016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and Euro 2020. In total, he has over 60 caps for Poland.

6. Wojciech played on loan for Brentford and Roma

He joined Brentford on 20 November 2009 on a month’s loan. A loan involves a footballer playing for another club while still contracted to another, for a specified period. In his second match, he saved a second-half penalty in a 1-0 loss to Wycombe Wanderers.

He completed his fifth game on 12 December 2009, where he also made several saves to keep out Leeds United. Wojciech was given the Man of the Match award. Arsenal ultimately extended the loan to 31 May 2010. In February 2015, he was named Brentford’s ‘Keeper of the Decade’ in a club poll.

On 29 July 2015, he joined Roma on a season-long loan.  He made his Serie A debut on 22 August in a 1-1 draw at Hellas Verona. In December he was dropped off for Morgan De Sanctis after being caught smoking following a 6-1 loss to Barcelona.

 In total, he made 31 league appearances in that season, with Roma finishing third place. His season-long loan was extended for the 2016-17 season. This time he kept the cleanest sheets in Serie A (14) and helped Roma set a club seasonal record of 87 points.

7. He moved to Serie A club Juventus in 2017

Wojciech at Juventus 2021 by Vyacheslav Evdokimov.

After his debut for Arsenal in the 2008-09 Football League Cup, his second appearance for the team was in the League Cup.

He kept a clean sheet against Newcastle United. His Premier League debut was in a 1-0 loss to Manchester United on 13 December 2010.

 He became Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper during the 2011-12 season, playing every minute of the team’s Premier League matches. He won his first senior trophy with Arsenal in the 2013-14 FA Cup. He was awarded Premier League Golden Glove award at the end of the season, having kept 16 clean sheets.

He went on to play for Roma on loan for the subsequent two seasons. On July 2017, he was signed by Juventus on a four-year contract. He was signed for a €12.2 million initial fee. He made his first clean sheet for the club in a 3-0 win over Chievo in Serie A on 9 September.

Initially, he was to serve as a backup to Gianluigi Buffon. However, Buffon was ruled out after picking a calf injury. Wojciech replaced him in his Champions League debut for the club. His performance saw him named the club’s player of the month for December 2017.

He was named Best Goalkeeper of the season by Lega Serie A in the 2019-20 season. Juventus clinched the Serie A title with Wojciech keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Sampdoria.

8. He was nominated for the Yashin Trophy in 2019

Wojciech Szczęsny by Roger Gor.

This was shortly after joining Juventus in 2017. He mainly served as backup to the team’s first-choice goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon. Buffon was later ruled of the 2018-19 season after an injury.

Wojciech replaced him and performed exceptionally to win his first Serie A title in Juventus’s 2-1 victory over Fiorentina.

His performance earned him a Yashin Trophy nomination. It is an annual association football award presented by France Football, one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe.

 It is awarded to the best goalkeeper, and the winner is selected by former Ballon d’Or winners. The award is named after Lev Yashin, a Russian goalkeeper.

9. Wojciech has won several awards

His skills as a goalkeeper have earned him respect in the world of football. He has won two FA Cups, (2013-14, 2014-15) while playing for Arsenal. He has won the Coppa Italia twice (2017-18, 2020-21) while in Juventus.

He was jointly awarded the Premier League Golden Glove award alongside Petr Cech of Chelsea for the 2013-14 season. Both had kept 16 clean sheets in the season. He was named Lega Series A Goalkeeper of the Year for the 2019-20 season at Juventus. He has been considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

10. He is married to Polish singer Marina Luczenko

Marina Luczenko 2017. Photo by Magazyn VIVA.

He started dating Marina in 2013. The two got engaged in July 2015 and got married on 21 May 2016. Marina is a Polish singer, songwriter, and actress. Besides her records, she has featured in James Arthur’s song ‘Let me love the lonely.’

 It was released as a single in Poland, and the track is certified gold by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Marina and Wojciech have a son named Liam. He was born in June 2018.