Maciej Żurawski Explained

Fullname:Maciej Stanisław Żurawski
Upright:1.2
Birth Date:12 September 1976[1]
Birth Place:Poznań, Polish People's Republic
Height:1.82m
Position:Forward
Youthyears1:1982–1994
Youthclubs1:Warta Poznań
Years1:1994–1997
Clubs1:Warta Poznań
Caps1:59
Goals1:5
Years2:1997–1999
Clubs2:Lech Poznań
Caps2:56
Goals2:19
Years3:1999–2005
Clubs3:Wisła Kraków
Caps3:153
Goals3:101
Years4:2005–2008
Caps4:55
Goals4:22
Years5:2008–2009
Caps5:38
Goals5:15
Years6:2009–2010
Caps6:23
Goals6:8
Years7:2010–2011
Clubs7:Wisła Kraków
Caps7:21
Goals7:1
Years8:2014–2015
Clubs8:Poroniec Poronin
Caps8:32
Goals8:21
Totalcaps:437
Totalgoals:192
Nationalyears1:1998–2008
Nationalteam1:Poland
Nationalcaps1:72
Nationalgoals1:17

Maciej Stanisław Żurawski (pronounced as /pol/; born 12 September 1976) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Żurawski appeared 72 times and scored 17 goals for Poland, representing them at two World Cups and Euro 2008. He also scored 121 goals in the Polish Ekstraklasa (11th most in history) and was the top league goalscorer twice.[2] [3] He also played in Scotland, Greece and Cyprus.

Club career

Warta Poznań

Born in Poznań, Żurawski started his career as a youth at Warta Poznań, the club where his father Andrzej was one of the football coaches. He made his debut for Warta Poznań in Ekstraklasa on 31 July 1994 in a league match against Widzew Łódź, at the age of 17. At the end of his first season, Warta was relegated from the Ekstraklasa.[4]

Lech Poznań

In November 1997, Żurawski went to Lech Poznań on a six-month loan. The loan was extended and, finally, he moved to Lech Poznań on a permanent transfer. Żurawski scored his first Ekstraklasa goal on 29 March 1998 against Górnik Zabrze. In his last game for Lech on 26 September 1999, he scored two goals against his new club Wisła Kraków. When leaving Lech, he gave autographed cards to fans with the dedication 'Remember Żuraw, the boy who left his heart in Poznań'.

Wisła Kraków

Żurawski made his debut for Wisła Kraków in Ekstraklasa on 2 November 1999 in a match against ŁKS Łódź.[5] On 4 March 2000, he scored his first goal for Wisla in the Ekstraklasa in a match against Odra Wodzisław.[6] He won the Ekstraklasa championship in 2000–01 season with Wisła Kraków.[7] In 2001–02 season, Żurawski scored 21 goals in 27 matches and was the Ekstraklasa top goalscorer. In 2002–03 season Żurawski played very well in UEFA Cup, where he scored ten goals in ten matches, including seven goals in matches against Parma, Schalke 04 and Lazio.[8] When Kamil Kosowski left Wisła Kraków, Żurawski has been chosen new Wisła Kraków captain. In 2003–04 season Żurawski scored 20 goals in 26 matches and led Wisła Kraków to achieve the Ekstraklasa title. He was the Ekstraklasa top goalscorer in 2003–04 season. In 2004–05 he won his fourth Ekstraklasa title with Wisła Kraków. In this season he scored 24 goals in 25 matches for Wisła in Ekstraklasa.[9]

Celtic

He joined Scottish Premier League side Celtic from Wisła Kraków in July 2005 and signed a three-year contract. He inherited the number 7 shirt from Juninho Paulista (previously with Henrik Larsson), and was nicknamed "Magic Żurawski" by the fans.[10] [11]

On 19 February 2006, Żurawski scored four goals as Celtic set a new SPL record by beating Dunfermline Athletic 8–1 at East End Park. Żurawski was subsequently voted the SPL Player of the Month for February. Zurawski finished Celtic's joint top scorer in the 2005–06 season along with John Hartson with 20 goals each.[12]

For the 2006–07 season, Celtic signed strikers Kenny Miller and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink as replacements for Hartson and Dion Dublin. Żurawski formed decent strike partnerships with both players. Having made a good start to the season, notching up 10 goals by January 2007, Żurawski then suffered an injury that kept him out for most of the season and scored no further goals during the campaign.

Chris Killen and Scott McDonald were signed before the start of season 2007–08. Żurawski started Celtic's opening day clash with Kilmarnock at Celtic Park,[13] but fell down the pecking order after McDonald returned from suspension and Killen came back from injury. The only other impact Żurawski made during the season was scoring the winning penalty in a Champions League penalty shootout against Spartak Moscow.[14] His time at Celtic was ultimately over after the signing of Georgios Samaras in January 2008.[15]

AEL

On the deadline day of the 2008 winter transfer window he was signed by the Greek side AEL for £500,000. He scored a goal in his Greek league debut, the only goal of the game to defeat AEK Athens 1–0.Żurawski was Larissa's top scorer for 2008–09 season with nine goals.

Omonia Nicosia

On 2 June 2009, it was announced that Żurawski had signed for Cypriot League runners-up Omonia Nicosia. He played for Omonia for one year and helped the team to return to titles after five years. He was released in May 2010.

Wisła Kraków

On 30 June 2010, Żurawski returned to Wisła Kraków after five years, on a one-year deal. In the 2010–11 season he won his fifth Ekstraklasa title with Wisła.

International career

World Cup 2002

Żurawski was selected in the Poland national team's 23-man squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan. He played in all three of the team's games and missed a penalty in the match against the United States, although Poland won 3–1.

World Cup 2006

He was selected in the 23-man Polish squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. His side finished third in the group and were eliminated at the first hurdle, losing to hosts Germany and a determined Ecuador before defeating Costa Rica. Zurawski did not score in any of the three matches.

Euro 2008

Zurawski was named as Captain in Poland's Euro 2008 squad, starting their first game against Germany on 8 June but later got injured and was substituted at half time. This injury meant that he would miss the rest of the tournament and the captaincy was given to Jacek Bąk and Michał Żewłakow for the second and third group stage matches.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotal
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Warta Poznań1994–95Ekstraklasa21000210
1995–96I liga22100221
1996–97II liga2020
1997–98I liga164164
Total595200000615
Lech Poznań1997–98Ekstraklasa17210182
1998–99Ekstraklasa3011103111
1999–2000Ekstraklasa961042148
Total56193042006321
Wisła Kraków1999–2000Ekstraklasa20672278
2000–01Ekstraklasa27873604011
2001–02Ekstraklasa272187844332
2002–03Ekstraklasa28227610104538
2003–04Ekstraklasa262010853525
2004–05Ekstraklasa2524116534133
Total1531014124372200241149
Celtic2005–06Scottish Premier League241644203020
2006–07Scottish Premier League26634503410
2007–08Scottish Premier League50003080
Total552278100007230
Larissa2007–08Super League Greece11610126
2008–09Super League Greece2792040339
Total38153000404515
Omonia2009–10A Katigoria23842323012
Wisła Kraków2010–11Ekstraklasa2113141283
Poroniec Poronin2013–14III liga2222
2014–15III liga20142014
2015–16III liga105105
Total32213221
Career total4371926335582740562254

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Poland199810
199930
200020
200110
2002114
200371
2004124
2005116
2006110
200781
200851
Total7217

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Żurawski goal.

List of international goals scored by Maciej Żurawski
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 10 February 2002 Limassol, Cyprus 1–0 2–1 Friendly
2 2–1
3 18 May 2002 Warsaw, Poland 1–0 1–0 Friendly
4 21 August 2002 Szczecin, Poland 1–0 1–1 Friendly
5 16 November 2003 Płock, Poland 4–2 4–3 Friendly
6 18 August 2004 Poznań, Poland 1–3 1–5 Friendly
7 4 September 2004 Belfast, Northern Ireland 1–0 3–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 8 September 2004 Chorzów, Poland 1–1 1–2 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 13 October 2004 Cardiff, Wales 2–1 3–2 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
10 9 February 2005 Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Poland 1–1 1–3 Friendly
11 30 March 2005 Warsaw, Poland 1–0 1–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
12 29 May 2005 Szczecin, Poland 1–0 1–0 Friendly
13 4 June 2005 Baku, Azerbaijan 3–0 3–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
14 3 September 2005 Chorzów, Poland 3–1 3–2 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
15 7 September 2005 Warsaw, Poland 1–0 1–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
16 28 March 2007 Kielce, Poland 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
17 27 May 2008 Reutlingen, Germany 1–0 1–0 Friendly

Honours

Wisła Kraków

Celtic

Omonia

Individual

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany List of Players . FIFA . https://web.archive.org/web/20190610174527/https://www.fifadata.com/document/fwc/2006/PDF/FWC_2006_SquadLists.pdf . 10 June 2019 . 21.
  2. Web site: Lotto Ekstraklasa - Piłka nożna - WP SportoweFakty. Grupa Wirtualna. Polska.
  3. Web site: Historia Klub 100 bramek - Piłka nożna - Onet.pl Sport . 2 June 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090201172830/http://sport.onet.pl/74318%2C1248685%2C11621%2C0%2Ctabela.html . 1 February 2009.
  4. Nosal. Bartosz. 24 February 2012. Wychowanek Warty i gwiazda Lecha kończy karierę. Gazeta Wyborcza.
  5. Web site: Wisła Kraków 1-0 Łódzki KS. Maciej. Kusina.
  6. Web site: Wisła Kraków 3-1 Odra Wodzisław Śląski. Maciej. Kusina.
  7. Web site: I liga 2000/2001. Maciej. Kusina.
  8. Web site: Puchar UEFA 2002/2003. Maciej. Kusina.
  9. Web site: Maciej Żurawski. 90minut.pl. pl.
  10. News: 'Magic' Zurawski, a Pole apart. https://web.archive.org/web/20210514123715/https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/magic-zurawski-pole-apart-13505. dead. 14 May 2021. FIFA.com. 22 May 2019.
  11. News: Polish World Cup star tips Zurawski to weave magic in Germany. The Scotsman. 22 May 2019.
  12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/4775128.stm Zurawski is player of the month
  13. News: Celtic 0-0 Kilmarnock. 5 August 2007. BBC Sport. 22 May 2019.
  14. News: Celtic 1 Spartak Moscow 1 (Celtic win 4-3 on pens): Boruc the hero as Celtic see off Spartak in shoot-out drama. Harris. Nick. 30 August 2007. The Independent. 22 May 2019.
  15. Web site: Maciej Zurawski's Shock Swipe At Celtic. 14 March 2008. Daily Record. 22 May 2019.
  16. Web site: Puchar Polski 2002/2003 - strzelcy . 90minut.pl . 25 February 2024 . pl.
  17. Web site: Laureaci . pilkanozna.pl . 16 July 2024 . pl.