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Wojciech Szczęsny

Szczęsny in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny[1]
Date of birth	(1990-04-18) 18 April 1990 (age 23)
Place of birth	Warsaw, Poland
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[2]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Arsenal
Number	1
Youth career
2004–2005	Agrykola Warsaw
2005–2006	Legia Warsaw
2006–2009	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2009–	Arsenal	78	(0)
2009–2010	→ Brentford (loan)	28	(0)
National team‡
2007–2010	Poland U20	4	(0)
2009–2012	Poland U21	7	(0)
2009–	Poland	13	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:58, 19 May 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:55, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny (Polish pronunciation: [ˈvɔjt͡ɕɛx ˈʂt͡ʂɛ̃snɨ]; born 18 April 1990) is a Polish footballer who plays for Arsenal and the Poland national team as a goalkeeper.

His composure, agility, and command of his area led to his establishment as Arsenal's first choice when he was 20. After winning his place in the first team, Szczęsny expressed his desire to continue as Arsenal's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of his career.^[3]

Early life [edit]

Before turning to football, Szczęsny first learned ballroom dancing and later excelled at the javelin throw.^[4] His father, Maciej, is a former Polish international goalkeeper, and his elder brother, Jan, also plays as a goalkeeper, currently for Gwardia Warsaw in the seventh tier of the Polish league, the club where their father once played.

Club career [edit]

Szczęsny trained at Agrykola Warsaw as a young player; soon, Legia Warsaw's goalkeeping coach, Krzysztof Dowhań, was so impressed with the young keeper, he allowed him to take part in a training camp with Legia's first team at the age of 15, joining them afterwards.^[5][6]

Arsenal [edit]

In 2006, Szczęsny joined the Arsenal youth set-up, progressing to the reserve team during the 2008–2009 season. In November 2008, he lost his balance while lifting a heavy weight and both his forearms were fractured, causing him to miss five months.^[4] Szczęsny appeared on the first team bench for the first time during the Premier League match against Stoke City on 24 May 2009.

At the start of the 2009–2010 season he was promoted to the senior squad and given the number 53. He received a call up for the Champions League match against Standard Liège on 16 September 2009, staying on the bench. On 22 September 2009, Szczęsny made his first team debut in the League Cup, keeping a clean sheet against West Bromwich Albion.^[7] In December 2009, Arsène Wenger revealed that he and the rest of Arsenal's coaching staff had high hopes for Szczęsny, saying, "We have identified Wojciech as a future great, great goalkeeper."^[8][9] In January 2010, Wenger said: "I really believe in him that he will one day be Arsenal's number one. He has all the qualities you want from a goalkeeper."^[10][11]

Brentford (loan) [edit]

On 20 November 2009, Szczęsny joined League One team Brentford on a month's loan. He saved a second-half penalty in his second match in the 1–0 loss to Wycombe Wanderers. Szczęsny completed his fifth game for Brentford on 12 December 2009, where he made a number of saves to keep out Leeds United and was given the Man of the Match award.^[12] On 22 December, Arsenal agreed to extend the loan for a second month until 17 January 2010,^[13] and then until 31 January. Finally, it was extended until 31 May.^[14] In April, Brentford manager Andy Scott said: "His performances suggest that he would not be out of place in the Championship or even the Premier League. It has reached the stage where when he lets in a goal we wonder why he hasn't saved it."^[15] One year later after Scott sacking as a Brentford manager, Szczęsny criticized the club of sacking Scott on Twitter stating "“What a joke! Andy Scott sacked?! He is a fantastic manager and Brentford will pay the price. They were struggling in League Two when AS took over! He is the only reason why Brentford is in League One.”^[16]

2010–11 [edit]

On 27 October 2010, Szczęsny made his second appearance for Arsenal in the League Cup, keeping a clean sheet against Newcastle United at St James' Park and stopping numerous attempts from Newcastle players.^[17] He signed a new long-term contract on 11 November 2010, thanking his goalkeeping coach Josh Phelan and his father Maciej Szczęsny (who was also a keeper for the Polish national team), for helping him progress in his breakthrough season.^[18][19] Szczęsny made his Premier League debut in the 1–0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford on 13 December 2010, deputising for Łukasz Fabiański and Manuel Almunia, who both missed the match through injury.^[20] On 8 January 2011, he started the FA Cup third-round match against Leeds United. The following weekend, Szczęsny kept his first league clean sheet in a 3–0 win over West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground.

Szczęsny in 2012

Following Szczęsny's form after playing consecutive Premier League matches, Wenger confirmed that Szczęsny would remain Arsenal's first choice goalkeeper, stating "he's done nothing for me to take him out."^[21] On 16 February, Szczęsny starred in his Champions League debut against Barcelona at the Emirates. The game finished 2–1 for Arsenal with Szczęsny making a number of saves.^[22] On 27 February, Szczęsny let in a late Birmingham City winner in the League Cup Final. In the 89th minute, a header caused confusion between Szczęsny and defender Laurent Koscielny where the latter pulled out of a clearance at the last minute causing the former to lose control of the ball, which rolled right into the path of Birmingham player Obafemi Martins, who converted from near the penalty spot.

2011–12 [edit]

Szczęsny played a half in each of Arsenal's pre-season games on their tour of Malaysia and China. Szczęsny was given the number 13 instead of number 53, formerly worn by Alexander Hleb, then Jens Lehmann on his second spell at the club. He played the first match of the 2011–12 Premier League season, a 0–0 draw with Newcastle United, this making him Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper. On 24 August Szczęsny made a vital penalty save in the 59th minute of play against Antonio Di Natale in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. Arsenal were tied 1–1 (2–1 on aggregate) against Udinese Calcio and Szczęsny's penalty save proved vital in securing Arsenal a spot in the lucrative group stage of the competition for the 14th straight season. Arsenal went on to win the game 2–1 (3–1 on aggregate) with goals coming from Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott. On 28 August, he played in the 8–2 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford which turned out to be Arsenal's heaviest defeat in the Premier League and the first time they conceded 8 goals for over 115 years. On 26 February 2012, Szczęsny finished on the winning side in a North London derby for the first time, as Arsenal came from 0–2 down to win 5–2 at home to Tottenham Hotspur.^[23] On 3 March 2012, Szczęsny made a number of important saves and blocked an early penalty to help Arsenal win against Liverpool at Anfield in a game which captain Robin van Persie stated they were fortunate to win.

2012–13 [edit]

Following the release of Manuel Almunia, Szczęsny was given the vacated number 1 shirt.^[24] After a couple of months out with injury, Szczęsny made his return in the 5–2 win against Tottenham Hotspur.^[25]

Szczęsny was voted Arsenal's Man of the Match by supporters on the club's official website following a string of vital second-half saves during the 1–0 victory away to Sunderland on 9 February.^[26]

On 13 March 2013, Szczęsny was dropped from the Arsenal team to play Bayern München in the Champions League.^[27] In Arsenal's next Premier League match against Swansea City, Szczęsny returned to the Arsenal squad but was named only as a subsitute, with Łukasz Fabiański selected to start in goal by Arsène Wenger.

On 20 April 2013, Szczęsny returned to the team in a Premier League match at home to Everton due to a rib injury sustained by Fabiański.^[28] In his first two matches back in the Arsenal goal, he kept consecutive clean sheets against Everton and Fulham respectively.

International career [edit]

Szczęsny plays for Poland's U-21 team and has started all three 2011 European Championship qualifying matches to date. He was also placed on stand-by for the Polish national team by manager Leo Beenhakker for the team's World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Slovenia in early September 2009. However, since none of Poland's top three goalkeepers dropped out, he was not called up and instead played the U-21 qualifiers against Spain and Finland. He has a total of six caps for the U-21 squad.^[29]

In October 2009, new manager Franciszek Smuda sent Szczęsny his first call up to the full national side, for the friendly matches against Romania and Canada.^[5] Szczęsny made his debut versus Canada on 18 November, coming on as a 46th minute substitute for Tomasz Kuszczak.^[30] He earned his second cap and his first full match in a February 2011 friendly against Norway.

Szczęsny had a strong performance against the Germany national team on 6 September 2011. The final result of the match was a 2–2 draw, however Szczęsny made eight critical saves that kept Poland from conceding any more goals. His performance in this match earned him praise from former German international goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn.^[31][32] He was sent off in Poland's opening game against Greece in UEFA Euro 2012. In the second half of the match Szczęsny fouled Dimitris Salpingidis in order to prevent him from scoring a second goal for Greece. The foul occurred in the box causing Szczęsny to miss the next match against Russia, and costing Poland a penalty which was saved by Przemysław Tytoń in a 1–1 draw.^[33] Therefore, Tytoń became the first goalkeeper in history of the European Championships to save a penalty after coming on.^[34] Szczęsny failed to play again for the rest of Euro 2012 as Tytoń played the rest of the group stage as Poland went out finishing bottom of Group A with 2 points.

Career statistics [edit]

Club [edit]

Szczęsny warming up before an Arsenal match in 2011

As of 20 May 2013

¹Including the Premier League and League One.

Cl.S. – Clean sheets.

International [edit]

As of 6 February 2013^[35]

Honours [edit]

Arsenal [edit]

Winner:

• Premier Academy League (1): 2008–09
• FA Youth Cup (1): 2008–09

Runners up:

• Football League Cup (1): 2010–2011

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Wojciech Szczęsny profile at Arsenal F.C.
• Wojciech Szczęsny career stats at Soccerbase
• ESPN Profile

Poland squads v t e Poland squad – 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup 1 Białkowski 2 Starosta 3 Fojut 4 Król 5 Strugarek 6 Danch 7 Marek 8 Marciniak 9 Małecki 10 Janoszka 11 Janczyk 12 Tytoń 13 Rączka 14 Szałek 15 Dąbrowski 16 Krychowiak 17 Feter 18 Sacha 19 Adamiec 20 Cywka 21 Szczęsny Coach: Globisz v t e Poland squad – UEFA Euro 2012 1 Szczęsny 2 Boenisch 3 Wojtkowiak 4 Kamiński 5 Dudka 6 Matuszczyk 7 Polanski 8 Rybus 9 Lewandowski 10 Obraniak 11 Murawski 12 Sandomierski 13 Wasilewski 14 Wawrzyniak 15 Perquis 16 Błaszczykowski (c) 17 Wolski 18 Mierzejewski 19 Sobiech 20 Piszczek 21 Grosicki 22 Tytoń 23 Brożek Coach: Smuda