- Tomasz Kuszczak
Football player infobox
playername = Tomasz Kuszczak
fullname = Tomasz Kuszczak
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|3|20
cityofbirth =Krosno Odrzańskie
countryofbirth =Poland
height = height|m=1.90
currentclub = Manchester United
clubnumber = 29
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
1999–2000
youthclubs =Śląsk Wrocław
Uerdingen
years = 2000–2004
2004–2007
2006–2007
2007–
clubs = Hertha BSC
West Bromwich Albion
→ Manchester United (loan)
Manchester United
caps(goals) = 00 (0)
31 (0)
06 (0)
10 (0)
nationalyears = 2003–
nationalteam = Poland
nationalcaps(goals) = 06 (0)
pcupdate = 10:42, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 10:42, 20 August 2008 (UTC)Tomasz Kuszczak ( IPA2|ˈtɔmaʂ ˈkuʂtʂak, audio|Pl-tomasz-kuszczak.ogg|listen); (born
20 March 1982 inKrosno Odrzańskie ,Poland ) is a Polish football player, who is a goalkeeper with thePremier League club Manchester United and thePoland national football team .Kuszczak has previously played for
Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, as well as for the German clubsKFC Uerdingen 05 andHertha BSC Berlin , before moving in 2004 to England's West Bromwich Albion. During the summer of 2006 he made the switch to Manchester United after a season of starting for West Brom in the Premiership.Kuszczak made 14 appearances for the Poland Under-21 side, and has been capped six times at senior level.
Club career
Hertha BSC
Kuszczak joined Hertha BSC in 2000, spending a year with their reserve team before being promoted to the first team in 2001. He subsequently spent three seasons as the third-choice goalkeeper at the club, behind
Gábor Király andChristian Fiedler , and failed to make a single appearance in the Bundesliga. He was out of contract with Hertha when he was signed by the then West Brom managerGary Megson onJuly 14 2004 . [cite news
date=2004-07-14
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/3893561.stm
title= West Brom bag keeper
publisher=BBC Sport
accessdate=2007-07-04]West Bromwich Albion
He made his debut for West Brom on
September 18 2004 in the Premiership match againstFulham F.C. atThe Hawthorns , which ended in a 1-1 draw. He then played in the League Cup match againstColchester United F.C. onSeptember 21 2004 , Albion losing 1-2.Kuszczak had only kept goal in one match in the Premier League before West Brom's game against Manchester United on the penultimate match day of the 2004-05 season, with the Baggies facing a tough relegation battle. He put in a striking performance, having to step in front of the goal after the first choice keeper
Russell Hoult was injured in the first half. West Brom drew the match 1-1, with Kuszczak remaining unbeaten during his 68 minutes on the pitch. This performance helped Kuszczak earn his first Man of the Match award in the Premiership. The following week, in the season's last match against Portsmouth, Kuszczak had another impressive game, enabling West Brom to win 2-0, and hence stay up in the league. He is also very proactively involved in promoting community education.In 2005-06, Kuszczak was supposed to be the reserve keeper behindChris Kirkland . With Kirkland injured, Kuszczak kept in his first Premiership match of the season onOctober 30 2005 , but could not prevent Newcastle United from winning 3-0. His performances then improved, allowing him to become the first choice keeper. This continued despite Kirkland's return from injury.On
January 15 2006 , Kuszczak had an impressive game against Wigan, making a match-winning save late on against Jason Roberts, with West Brom winning the game 1-0. The save was voted "Save of the Season" by viewers of BBC TV'sMatch of the Day programme.On
July 7 2006 , it was confirmed by West Bromwich Albion managerBryan Robson that Manchester United made a bid for Kuszczak of around £2 million. OnAugust 3 , West Bromwich Albion rejected a £2.5 million bid for Kuszczak from Manchester United, citing that a one-year loan spell for United starletGiuseppe Rossi would also have to be included along with the cash to result in a deal. OnAugust 10 2006 , Kuszczak joined Manchester United in a deal involving the transfer of England Under-18 goalkeeper Luke Steele and defenderPaul McShane to West Brom.Manchester United
When officially announcing the move, Manchester United failed to state the terms, leading to suggestions that it was a merely a loan deal. Chief executive
David Gill has since clarified the situation: "Tomasz will be a Manchester United player for the next four years," he said. "He has come to us on loan for the first year, and then will join us permanently in July 2007. We would not have been interested in signing any player, even as one as good as Tomasz, on loan. We would hope Tomasz remains a Manchester United player for many years to come." [cite web| url=http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200608/s1713334.htm| title=Kuszczak pens four-year United deal| date=2006-08-12| accessdate=2008-07-29| publisher=ABC Sport]Kuszczak made his debut in a
Premier League match against Arsenal onSeptember 17 2006 , and he earned the Manchester United fans' respect when he saved an earlyGilberto Silva penalty. He could not, however, save United from a 1-0 defeat, whenEmmanuel Adebayor scored the late winner.In his first start, against Crewe Alexandra in the Carling Cup, the name on the back of his goalkeeper shirt was spelled incorrectly; instead of Kuszczak, his name had been spelled "Zuszczak."
Although Kuszczak didn't play enough Premiership games in the 2006-07 season, he received a winners medal by special application to the Premier League.
On
July 2 ,2007 , Manchester United announced that the permanent transfer had been completed, [cite web |url=http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=440998 |title=Reds complete triple signing |accessdate=2007-07-02 |author=Steve Bartram |date=2007-07-02 |publisher=ManUtd.com] for a fee of £2.125million. [cite news
title = WBA financial results
url = http://www.wba.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/0,,10366~1110856,00.html
publisher = West Bromwich Albion F.C.
date =2007-09-14
accessdate = 2008-08-13]Due to Dutch keeper
Edwin Van der Sar 's continued good form and Ben Foster's knee injury, Kuszczak was named Manchester United's number 2 for the 2007-2008 season. During an interview in May 2007 Kuszczak stated that he wanted one day to become the number 1 at Manchester United.On
March 8 ,2008 , in an FA Cup tie against Portsmouth, Kuszczak received a straight red card for a foul onMilan Baroš . [Cite news| last = McNulty| first = Phil| title = Man Utd 0-1 Portsmouth| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7272806.stm| publisher = BBC Sport| date =2008-03-08 | accessdate = 2008-03-08] By this time all substitutes had been used, thereforeRio Ferdinand was forced to take over between the posts, but failed to stop the penalty that lead to United being kicked out of the FA Cup.In
September 2008 , he signed a two-year extension which will keep him at Old Trafford until2012 . [Cite news| last = Lamkin| first = Paul| title = Kuszczak signs new deal at Old Trafford| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/sep/15/manchesterunited.kuszczak| publisher = Guardian| date =2008-09-15 | accessdate = 2008-09-15]International career
Kuszczak had also played two international matches by this time, his debut coming on
December 11 2003 against Malta. Poland won the away game 4-0.Due to his impressive performances for West Brom, although the club was ultimately relegated, he was called up to the 23-men
Poland national football team for theFIFA World Cup 2006 . However in a World Cup warm-up match between Poland and Colombia onMay 30 2006 , he conceded a goal directly from a long punt by the opposition goalkeeper, Neco Martínez [cite news
date=2006-05-31
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/poland/5034124.stm
title= Kuszczak defiant despite blunder
publisher=BBC Sport
accessdate=2007-07-04] , an error also made by his Manchester United rival Ben Foster. Kuszczak subsequently ended up asArtur Boruc 's back-up during the tournament and did not play.In May 2008 he was named in Poland's squad for
Euro 2008 but had to drop out after picking up a back injury. [cite news
date=2008-06-06
url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/06/sports/EU-SPT-SOC-Euro-2008-Poland-Kuszczak.php
title= Poland keeper Kuszczak out of European Championship
publisher=International Herald Tribune
accessdate=2007-07-04] Kuszczak was replaced byKorona Kielce 'sWojciech Kowalewski .Honours
West Bromwich Albion
*"Save of the Season" - Awarded by
Match of the Day : 2005-06Manchester United
*
Premier League
**Winner (2): 2006-07, 2007-08 (Special dispensation for both)Fact|date=May 2008
*FA Cup :
**Runner-up (1): 2007
*FA Community Shield
**Winner (2): 2007, 2008
*UEFA Champions League
**Winner (1): 2007-08
*UEFA Super Cup
** Runner-up (1): 2008
*"Save of the Season" - Awarded byDaily Mail : 2007-08 [cite web |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=565996&in_page_id=1779 |title=Top five Premier League saves |accessdate=2007-05-13 |author= |date=2007-05-12 |publisher=DailyMail.co.uk ]tatistics
"All statistics correct up to
21 September 2008"Notes
External links
*soccerbase|id=26496|name=Tomasz Kuszczak
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/bsp/hi/football/statistics/players/k/kuszczak_224408.stm BBC Profile]
* [http://www.pzpn.pl/a_kadra_eng.php?oid=3424 Official website of the Poland Football Association]
* [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/player/175350_KUSZCZAK_Tomasz.html Profile] on FIFA World Cup 2006 website
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaNnLL69BP0&mode=related&search=] goal scored by Neco MartínezPersondata
NAME= Kuszczak, Tomasz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Kuszczak, Tomasz
SHORT DESCRIPTION= footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1982-3-20
PLACE OF BIRTH=Krosno Odrzańskie ,Poland
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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