Jan Tomaszewski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 9 January 1948) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the 1970s. He kept goal for the Poland national teams that came third at the 1974 World Cup, where he was named Best Goalkeeper, that won the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and that competed at the 1978 World Cup. He is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the history of Polish football.
Club career
Tomaszewski grew up in Wrocław where his parents were expelled from
Vilnius after World War II.
[ Człowiek, który nie zatrzymał Niemiec at Gazeta Wyborcza]
Tomaszewski's club career was mainly at ŁKS Łódź, having been forbidden by Poland's communist government to play abroad before the age of 30, even after coming to international attention.
After the 1978 World Cup, he moved abroad, first to Belgian club Beerschot, and then Hércules in Spain, before retiring in 1984 after two more years with Łódź. In all he won 63 caps for Poland,
International career
Tomaszewski is best remembered by some for his performance for the Poland national team against England, in a qualifying match for the 1974 World Cup, which England needed to win.
Tomaszewski had been labelled "a clown" by
Brian Clough before the match (the two men however became quite friendly in later years), but had the last laugh as he turned in a man-of-the-match performance repeatedly denying England's attackers; the only goal he conceded being an equalizing penalty from Allan Clarke.
Earlier,
Jan Domarski had scored for the Poles. Poland drew the game 1–1 and qualified for the finals in
West Germany at the expense of England.
Brian Glanville wrote: "In retrospect, to be eliminated by so fine a side as Poland seems no disgrace, but this is a posteriori reasoning. I doubt if England could have made so dazzling a contribution as Poland to the tournament, yet it should be remembered that the Poland which beat England and the Poland which took their place were two very different propositions".[Glanville, Brian "The Story of the World Cup", p. 191, 2005 edition]
Other achievements
Poland went on to claim third place during a World Cup in which Tomaszewski saved two penalties in two different matches (from
Staffan Tapper and Uli Hoeneß), the first goalkeeper in FIFA World Cup history to do so. Tomaszewski went on to win a
silver medal with Poland at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and also played in the 1978 World Cup, where Poland disappointed in only managing to get as far as the second group phase. Between 1989–1990, he served as the goalkeepers' coach of the Poland national football team led by
Andrzej Strejlau.
Later life
After his playing career he worked as a
Sportscaster and sports
journalist writing articles in magazines including
Przegląd Sportowy. In 1986, he graduated from the University of Physical Education in Warsaw. In 1991, he published a book titled
Kulisy reprezentacyjnej piłki (Promise Publishing Institute, Łódź). Known for making many controversial statements, he criticised the Polish Football Association (PZPN) on a number of occasions when the organization was run by Marian Dziurowicz and Michał Listkiewicz. He was elected to the Sejm at the 2011 election, representing Łódź for Law and Justice.
Personal life
He was married three times. He married his third wife, Katarzyna (
née Calińska), in 1988. She was a Polish Champion in
table tennis.
Tomaszewski has two daughters with her: Paulina and Małgorzata.
Career statistics
| + Appearances, conceded goals and clean sheets by national team |
|
| Poland | 0 |
| 0 |
| 6 |
| 4 |
| 3 |
| 2 |
| 1 |
| 5 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 1 |
|
Honours
K. Beerschot V.A.C.
Poland
-
Olympic silver medal: 1976
-
FIFA World Cup third place: 1974
External links
