Wojciech Kowalewski

Wojciech Kowalewski

Personal information
Date of birth	11 May 1977
Place of birth	Białystok, Poland
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1995–1997	Wigry Suwałki	21	(0)
1997–2000	Legia Warsaw	1	(0)
2001	Dyskobolia Grodzisk	15	(0)
2001	Legia Warsaw	16	(0)
2002–2003	Shakhtar Donetsk	19	(0)
2003–2007	Spartak Moscow	94	(0)
2007–2008	Korona Kielce	14	(0)
2008–2010	Iraklis Thessaloniki	39	(0)
2010	Sibir Novosibirsk	14	(0)
2011	Anorthosis Famagusta	1	(0)
Total		234	(0)
National team^‡
2002–2009	Poland	11	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 January 2011. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 January 2011

Wojciech Kowalewski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈvɔjtɕɛx kɔvaˈlɛvski]; born 11 May 1977 in Białystok), is a retired Polish football goalkeeper.

Club career

Kowalewski made his top-flight debut with Wigry Suwałki during the 1996–97 season, but it was not until 2001–02, after a loan spell with second division side Dyskobolia Grodzisk, that he finally established himself with Legia. Midway through the season he moved to FC Shakhtar Donetsk and only conceded once in nine league games as Shakhtar stormed to the Ukrainian title for the first time. In 2003 he moved to Spartak Moscow where he played for several years as first-choice keeper, even serving as vice-captain. In late 2007, having lost his place to Stipe Pletikosa, he requested to leave the club. In December 2007 Spartak agreed to terminate his contract. He had not played for Spartak in over a year.

On 17 January 2008 it was announced that Kowalewski had started a trial period with Premier League club Reading.^[1] On 3 February 2008, Kowalewski signed a three-year deal with Polish club Korona Kielce.^[2]

Kowalewski has a reputation of being an excellent penalty-saver, once breaking FC Torpedo Moskva's Vladimir Leonchenko's streak of 13 successful spot-kicks. On 17 January 2010 Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. released experienced Polish goalkeeper. The player was tracked by Legia Warsaw,^[3] but joined the Russian Premier League newcomers Sibir Novosibirsk instead.^[4]

International career

Kowalewski made his Poland debut in February 2002, but made only a handful of appearances before being recalled to the side at the start of Euro 2008 qualifying. He was replaced by Artur Boruc after picking up a second yellow against Portugal on 11 October 2006. Poland won that game 2–1.

Kowalewski replaced Tomasz Kuszczak in Poland's Euro 2008 squad following the Manchester United goalkeeper's back injury.^[5]

In September 2009 he was recalled to the squad for the World Cup Qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Slovakia by coach Stefan Majewski. He was the starter against the Czechs as Poland slipped to a 2–0 defeat on 10 October 2009 which killed off any lingering hopes of qualifying for the tournament finals. He will signed to Anorthosis Famagusta tomorrow.

Trivia

• During Euro 2008, Kowalewski had to re-use the UEFA ID card of his team-mate Mariusz Lewandowski to enter the stadium in Klagenfurt for the match against Germany as he did not obtain an accreditation pass due to an oversight by the Polish delegation.^[6]

References

1. "Polish international joins on trial". readingfc.co.uk. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2008.
2. "Kowalewski w Koronie" (in Polish). Korona Kielce. 3 February 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
3. Dwie opcje za Muchę: Szczęsny czy Kowalewski?
4. "Witamy, Wojciech!" (in Russian). FC Sibir. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
5. "Poland keeper Kuszczak out of European Championship". International Herald Tribune. 6 June 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
6. Mochlinski, Kaz (14 June 2008). "Frustrated Poles turn on each other". London: The Telegraph.

External links

• Wojciech Kowalewski profile at 90minut (Polish)
• National team stats on the website of the Polish Football Association (Polish)