Wojciech Kowalewski

Wojciech Kowalewski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈvɔjtɕɛx kɔvaˈlɛfskʲi]; born 11 May 1977, in Białystok), is a retired Polish football goalkeeper. Kowalewski currently is an assistant goalkeeping coach at Legia Warsaw.

Wojciech Kowalewski
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-05-11) 11 May 1977
Place of birth Białystok, Poland
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) 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 → Spartak Moscow (loan) 10 (0)
2003–2007 Spartak Moscow 84 (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
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 January 2011

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.

After initially moving to Spartak Moscow on loan in June 2003, Kowalewski signed a five-year contract with Spartak on 7 November 2003.[1] 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.[2] On 3 February 2008, Kowalewski signed a three-year deal with Polish club Korona Kielce.[3]

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,[4] but joined the Russian Premier League newcomers Sibir Novosibirsk instead.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

References
  1. "Kowalewski staying with Spartak". uefa.com. UEFA. 7 November 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  2. "Polish international joins on trial". readingfc.co.uk. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2008.
  3. "Kowalewski w Koronie" (in Polish). Korona Kielce. 3 February 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  4. Dwie opcje za Muchę: Szczęsny czy Kowalewski?
  5. "Witamy, Wojciech!" (in Russian). FC Sibir. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  6. "Poland keeper Kuszczak out of European Championship". International Herald Tribune. 6 June 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
  7. Mochlinski, Kaz (14 June 2008). "Frustrated Poles turn on each other". London: The Telegraph.
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