Krzysztof Warzycha

Krzysztof Warzycha
Personal information
Full name Krzysztof Warzycha
Date of birth (1964-11-17) 17 November 1964 (age 60)
Place of birth Katowice, Poland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1989 Ruch Chorzów 192 (79)
1989–2004 Panathinaikos 390 (244)
Total 582 (323)
International career
1984–1997 Poland 50 (9)
Managerial career
2012 Egaleo
2012 Fokikos
2013–2014 Kallithea
2014–2015 Fostiras
2017 Ruch Chorzów
2018 Sparta
2020–2021 Enosis Aspropyrgos
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Krzysztof Ireneusz Warzycha (Polish: [ˈkʂɨʂtɔv vaˈʐɨxa], Greek: Κριστόφ Βαζέχα; born 17 November 1964) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward for Ruch Chorzów and for Greek club Panathinaikos. At international level, he played for the Poland national team, scoring nine goals in 50 appearances. He is widely considered as the best Panathinaikos player of all time. In 1988, he won the Polish Footballer of the Year Award presented by the Piłka Nożna football weekly.[1]

Club career

Ruch Chorzów

Warzycha played for Polish team Ruch Chorzów, won the Polish Championship in 1989 and was the top scorer in the Polish premier league the same year.

Panathinaikos

Warzycha joined Panathinaikos in December 1989, and won five Greek championships (1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2004), five Greek cups (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004), two Greek super cups 1993, 1994, while he was the highest scorer of the Greek championship 3 times (1994, 1995, 1998).

He is Panathinaikos' all-time leading goalscorer and an idol for the club. Warzycha is considered by many to be one of the best foreign players who have played in Greece. He was one of two Poles in the title-winning side of 1995, with fellow countryman Józef Wandzik keeping over a dozen clean sheets (shutouts) during the season.

He is the top scorer of Panathinaikos with 319 goals in all competitions.

The most iconic goal

On 3 April 1996, Warzycha scored probably the most important goal of his career (according to a late interview), against Ajax Amsterdam in 1995–96 UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals in Amsterdam Olympic Stadium [1] and gave Ajax their first home defeat in four years, in their last home match before the demolition of the stadium.

First goal scorer

At the end of the 2000–01 season, Warzycha had scored an incredible 235 goals in 352 matches and had been the Greek Alpha Ethniki premier league's top scorer in three different years in the 90s (1994, 1995 and 1998 seasons). His appearances in the UEFA Champions League have been no less impressive – he scored six goals in Panathinaikos' nine games on the way to the semi-finals of the 1995–96 competition.

With eight goals scored in all UEFA Champions League games, Warzycha remained the best scorer of Polish nationality in this competition until the 2012–13 season, when Robert Lewandowski scored 10 times for Dortmund in Dortmund's surprise run to the Champions League final.

On 29 April 2001, during a match against Ionikos FC, Warzycha scored the 233rd goal of his career in Greece, climbing to second place on the list of all-time goal scorers, tied with Mimis Papaioannou. Warzycha later scored his 234th goal and become sole occupant of this spot.

He was granted Greek citizenship in 1998. He retired in 2004.

Managerial career

After Panathinaikos head coach Henk Ten Cate was let go on 8 December 2009, Warzycha was appointed as assistant coach alongside Nikos Nioplias.[2]

On 1 March 2012, Warzycha was appointed as the head coach of Delta Ethniki side Egaleo, with this being his first venture into management.[3]

In 2012, Warzycha was the head coach of Fokikos.[4]

In April 2017, he was appointed manager of Ruch Chorzów, replacing Waldemar Fornalik.[5]

International career

Warzycha played 50 times for Poland, scoring nine goals. He played his last game for the Poland national team in April 1997 against Italy in Napoli, in a 3–0 loss.

Later life

Warzycha ran in the Greek local elections, 2014 with a New Democracy backed combination for the municipality of Athens.[6] He was also an ANEL candidate to parliament in January 2015 legislative elections, but without success.[7]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[8]
Club Season League Greek Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Panathinaikos 1989–90 Alpha Ethniki 21 14 0 0 2 1 — 23 15
1990–91 Alpha Ethniki 31 18 0 0 4 0 — 35 18
1991–92 Alpha Ethniki 21 12 0 0 4 0 — 25 12
1992–93 Alpha Ethniki 33 32 0 0 4 4 — 37 36
1993–94 Alpha Ethniki 31 24 0 0 4 2 1 0 36 26
1994–95 Alpha Ethniki 33 29 0 0 4 3 1 0 38 32
1995–96 Alpha Ethniki 32 19 0 0 11 6 — 43 25
1996–97 Alpha Ethniki 34 21 4 1 4 1 — 42 23
1997–98 Alpha Ethniki 34 32 7 3 — — 41 35
1998–99 Alpha Ethniki 25 12 5 5 6 2 — 36 19
1999–00 Alpha Ethniki 30 9 4 0 3 1 — 37 10
2000–01 Alpha Ethniki 27 13 8 3 13 3 — 48 19
2001–02 Alpha Ethniki 12 6 8 3 2 0 — 22 9
2002–03 Alpha Ethniki 21 3 7 2 6 3 — 34 8
2003–04 Alpha Ethniki 5 0 4 0 0 0 — 9 0
Panathinaikos Total 390 244 47 17 63 25 2 0 502 286

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Poland 1984 2 0
1985 0 0
1986 0 0
1987 4 0
1988 6 1
1989 13 3
1990 6 0
1991 3 0
1992 3 2
1993 3 1
1994 2 0
1995 1 0
1996 4 2
1997 3 0
Total 50 9

International goals

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Warzycha goal.
List of international goals scored by Krzysztof Warzycha
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 19 October 1988 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland  Albania 1–0 1–0 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 7 February 1989 Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica  Costa Rica 1–0 4–2 Friendly
3 3–0
4 12 February 1989 Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala  Guatemala 1–0 1–0 Friendly
5 19 May 1992 Stadion Lehen, Salzburg, Austria  Austria 3–1 4–2 Friendly
6 27 May 1992 City Stadium, Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Poland  Czechoslovakia 1–0 1–0 Friendly
7 19 May 1993 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino 3–0 3–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 27 August 1996 Stadion GKS, Bełchatów, Poland  Cyprus 1–0 2–2 Friendly
9 10 November 1996 Stadion GKS Katowice, Katowice, Poland  Moldova 2–0 2–1 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Ruch Chorzów

Panathinaikos[9]

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Player of the year – Poland". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Τέλος ο Τεν Κάτε, νέος προπονητής ο Νίκος Νιόπλιας (Panathinaikos sacked Ten Cate, Nioplias the new coach)". Eleftherotypia (in Greek). 8 December 2009.
  3. ^ "Ο Κριστόφ Βαζέχα προπονητής στο Αιγάλεω (Krzysztof Warzycha the coach of Egaleo)" (in Greek). skai.gr. 1 March 2012.
  4. ^ Προπονητής στον Φωκικό ο Βαζέχα (in Greek). www.sport.gr. 9 July 2012. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Krzysztof Warzycha trenerem Ruchu" (in Polish). 90minut. 21 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Υποψήφιος με το συνδυασμό Σπηλιωτόπουλου ο Κριστόφ Βαζέχα | Το Κουτί της Πανδώρας". 17 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Polski piłkarz Krzysztof Warzycha jednak nie został greckim posłem". 26 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Krzysztof Warzycha". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d "Krzysztof Warzycha". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Druga liga (2nd division)". mogiel.net. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  11. ^ "[NIEZAPOMNIANI] Krzysztof Warzycha – szczęśliwa "konieczynka"". laczynaspilka.pl (in Polish). 28 March 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Laureaci". pilkanozna.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  13. ^ Ken Salmon (3 March 2023). "Marlboro Cup". 90soccer.com.