Tomasz Kuszczak

Tomasz Kuszczak

Personal information
Full name	Tomasz Mirosław Kuszczak[1]
Date of birth	20 March 1982 (1982-03-20) (age 28)[2]
Place of birth	Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Manchester United
Number	29
Youth career
	Śląsk Wrocław
1999–2000	Uerdingen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2004	Hertha BSC	0	(0)
2004–2007	West Bromwich Albion	31	(0)
2006–2007	→ Manchester United (loan)	6	(0)
2007–	Manchester United	21	(0)
National team‡
2003–	Poland	10	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:42, 30 December 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10:42, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Tomasz Mirosław Kuszczak (Polish pronunciation: [ˈtɔmaʂ ˈkuʂtʂak]  ( listen); born 20 March 1982) is a Polish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Manchester United and the Polish national team.

Kuszczak has previously played for Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, as well as for the German clubs KFC Uerdingen 05 and Hertha BSC, before moving in 2004 to England's West Bromwich Albion. During the summer of 2006 he made the switch to Manchester United after a season of starting for West Brom in the Premiership.

Kuszczak made 14 appearances for the Poland under-21 side, and has been capped ten times at senior level.

Club career

Hertha BSC

Born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland, Kuszczak joined Germany's Hertha BSC in 2000, spending a year with their reserve team before being promoted to the first team in 2001. He subsequently spent three seasons as the third-choice goalkeeper at the club, behind Gábor Király and Christian Fiedler, and failed to make a single appearance in the Bundesliga. He was out of contract with Hertha when he was signed by the then-West Bromwich Albion manager Gary Megson on 14 July 2004.^[3]

West Bromwich Albion

He made his debut for West Bromwich Albion on 18 September 2004 in a Premier League match against Fulham at The Hawthorns, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He then played in a League Cup match against Colchester United on 21 September 2004, Albion losing 2–1.

Kuszczak had only kept goal in one match in the Premier League before West Brom's game against Manchester United on the penultimate match day of the 2004–05 season, with the Baggies facing a tough relegation battle. He put in a striking performance, having to step in front of the goal after the first choice keeper Russell Hoult was injured in the first half. West Brom drew the match 1–1, with Kuszczak remaining unbeaten during his 68 minutes on the pitch. This performance helped Kuszczak earn his first man of the match award in the Premier League. The following week, in the season's last match against Portsmouth, Kuszczak had another impressive game, enabling West Brom to win 2–0, and hence stay up in the league.

In 2005–06, Kuszczak was supposed to be the reserve keeper behind Chris Kirkland. With Kirkland injured, Kuszczak kept goal in his first Premier League match of the season on 30 October 2005, but could not prevent Newcastle United from winning 3–0. His performances then improved, allowing him to become the first-choice keeper. This continued despite Kirkland's return from injury.

On 15 January 2006, Kuszczak had an impressive game against Wigan Athletic, making a match-winning save late on from Jason Roberts, with West Brom winning the game 1–0. The save was voted Save of the Season by viewers of BBC TV's Match of the Day programme.

On 7 July 2006, it was confirmed by West Bromwich Albion manager Bryan Robson that Manchester United made a bid for Kuszczak of around £2 million. On 3 August, West Bromwich Albion rejected a £2.5 million bid for Kuszczak from Manchester United, citing that a one-year loan spell for United starlet Giuseppe Rossi would also have to be included along with the cash to result in a deal. On 10 August 2006, Kuszczak joined Manchester United in a deal involving the transfer of England Under-18 goalkeeper Luke Steele and defender Paul McShane to West Brom.

Manchester United

When officially announcing the move, Manchester United failed to state the terms, leading to suggestions that it was a merely a loan deal. Chief executive David Gill has since clarified the situation: "Tomasz will be a Manchester United player for the next four years," he said. "He has come to us on loan for the first year, and then will join us permanently in July 2007. We would not have been interested in signing any player, even as one as good as Tomasz, on loan. We would hope Tomasz remains a Manchester United player for many years to come."^[4]

Kuszczak made his debut in a Premier League match against Arsenal on 17 September 2006, and he earned the Manchester United fans' respect when he saved an early Gilberto Silva penalty. He could not, however, save United from a 1–0 defeat, when Emmanuel Adebayor scored the late winner.

In his first start, against Crewe Alexandra in the League Cup, the name on the back of his goalkeeper shirt was spelled incorrectly; instead of "Kuszczak", his name had been spelled "Zuszczak".

Although Kuszczak didn't play enough Premier League games in the 2006–07 season, he received a winners medal by special application to the Premier League.

On 2 July 2007, Manchester United announced that the permanent transfer had been completed,^[5] for a fee of £2.125 million.^[6]

Due to Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar's continued good form and Ben Foster's knee injury, Kuszczak was named Manchester United's number 2 for the 2007–08 season. During an interview in May 2007 Kuszczak stated that he wanted one day to become the number 1 at Manchester United.

On 8 March 2008, in an FA Cup tie against Portsmouth, Kuszczak received a straight red card for a foul on Milan Baroš.^[7] By this time all substitutes had been used, therefore Rio Ferdinand was forced to take over between the posts, but failed to stop the penalty that lead to United being knocked out of the FA Cup.

In September 2008, Kuszczak signed a two-year extension which will keep him at Old Trafford until 2012.^[8] However, after being overlooked in favour of Ben Foster for the 2009 League Cup Final, it appears as though Kuszczak might face problems in becoming United's new No.1 after van der Sar's retirement. In fact Kuszczak has of late expressed discontent with his situation at Manchester United and is considering his long-term future at the club.^[9] Kuszczak kept a clean sheet in his first game of the 2009–10 season, a 1–0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the League Cup. After Van der Sar suffered an injury, Kuszczak returned to the side for a match against Portsmouth on 28 November. He retained his position in the starting line-up for United's League Cup fifth round match against Tottenham Hotspur, the next league game against West Ham United and the last game of the Champions League group stage against Wolfsburg. Kuszczak kept another clean sheet in United's final game of the decade as they beat Wigan Athletic 5–0 at Old Trafford. However, Van der Sar's return to the team in January 2010 saw him lose his place in the side. He started, however, in the 2010 Football League Cup Final against Aston Villa, which saw him fail to save a penalty in the first minutes of the game, although United went on to win the trophy, after a 2–1 victory.

International career

Kuszczak had also played two international matches by this time, his debut coming on 11 December 2003 against Malta. Poland won the away game 4–0.

Due to his impressive performances for West Bromwich Albion, although the club was ultimately relegated, he was called up to the 23-man Poland national football team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, in a World Cup warm-up match between Poland and Colombia on 30 May 2006, he conceded a goal directly from a long punt by the opposition goalkeeper, Neco Martínez.^[10] Kuszczak subsequently ended up as Artur Boruc's back-up during the tournament and did not play.

In May 2008, Kuszczak was named in Poland's squad for UEFA Euro 2008, but was forced to drop out after picking up a back injury.^[11] Kuszczak was replaced by Wojciech Kowalewski. A lack of club football at Manchester United had also seen him slide down the pecking order for his country of late, but he was recently recalled to the squad for the friendly matches against Romania and Canada by new coach Franciszek Smuda, playing in both matches with mixed results.

Career statistics

Statistics accurate as of match played 28 February 2010^[13]

Honours

Club

Hertha BSC

• DFB-Ligapokal (2): 2001, 2002

Manchester United

• Premier League (2): 2006–07, 2007–08 (Special dispensation for both)^[14]
• League Cup (2): 2008–09, 2009–10
• FA Community Shield (3): 2007, 2008, 2010
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2007–08
• FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008

References

External links

• Tomasz Kuszczak career stats at Soccerbase
• Tomasz Kuszczak profile at ManUtd.com
• BBC Profile
• Official website of the Poland Football Association

Poland squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Boruc • 2 Jop • 3 Gancarczyk • 4 Baszczyński • 5 Kosowski • 6 Bąk (c) • 7 Sobolewski • 8 Krzynówek • 9 Żurawski • 10 Szymkowiak • 11 Rasiak • 12 Kuszczak • 13 Mila • 14 Żewłakow • 15 Smolarek • 16 Radomski • 17 Dudka • 18 Lewandowski • 19 Bosacki • 20 Giza • 21 Jeleń • 22 Fabiański • 23 Brożek • Coach: Janas