Lewandowski, Mariusz

Born May 18, 1979 in the family of Michal and Irena Lewandowski. My father was a football player, played for Zaglembe Lubin, and after finishing his career he became a coach of the club’s youth. The family often spent time in sports camps, where they took children: Mariusz and his sister Barbara. At three years old, Lewandowski watched his first world championship in Spain . When Mariusz grew up, his father began to take him to training, played a ball with him and did exercises. When the boy was nine years old, he began to train in the children's team "Zaglembe" ^[3] .

Lewandowski tried to enter a private high school, but because of the constant trips to the matches, he could not pass the competition. As a result, he entered a vocational school, where he received the specialty of auto mechanic ^[3] .

Zaglebe Lubin

Two months before the 18th birthday, Lewandowski received an invitation to the first Zaglmebe team from coach Miroslav Dragan, the club played in the major league ^[4] . On March 15, 1997, he made his debut in Extraclass in a match with the Warsaw “ Legia ”, replacing Pavel Petrovsky in the 46th minute, “Zaglembe” lost 1: 2. That season it was his only match for Zaglembe ^[5] . Over time, the club’s management wanted to rent it out in “ Hrobry Glogow ” or “ Medz ”, but the footballer’s father prevented the transfer ^[3] .

In the 1997/98 season, Lewandowski played 11 matches in the Polish league, mainly as successor Petr Przervivach and Radoslaw Kaluzhny ^[6] . The following season, the coaching staff began to trust Mariusz more - he played already in 21 league matches ^[7] . Lewandowski also started the autumn part of the 1999/2000 season in Zaglemb, having managed to play three matches. In the October match with the Polonia Warsaw club, he scored an own goal, the teams scored a draw 1: 1 ^[8] . In total, Lewandowski played 37 matches in the Polish league for three and a half years in Zaglemb ^[9] .

Discobia

During the winter transfer window in the 1999/2000 season, Lewandowski moved to Discobolism, which was then coached by Janusz Bialek. The deal might not have taken place, as the club had already acquired Krishtof Maidu for the position of Mariusz. However, in the end, competitors for a place on the field became friends in life ^[3] . On March 5, 2000, Lewandowski made his debut in a Discoholism T-shirt in a match against Pogon Szczecin , which ended in a defeat for his team with a minimum score ^[8] . Ten days later, he received the first red card in the Polish league in a match with the Warsaw “Polonia”, “Disco-Bolia” in the end lost 0: 1. Throughout the spring part of the season, Bialek released Lewandowski in the main part of Discobolism, he played in the defense center together with Igor Kozl. He played 14 matches for the club that season ^[8] .

In the 2000/01 season, Lewandowski was also the main player of Discobolism, continuing to defend against the Goat. On November 11, 2000, he scored the first goal in the Premier League (from the penalty spot) against the Шljensk ’goal, his rivals scored a 1-1 draw. In the league’s 27th round match against Stomil Olsztyn , Lewandowski scored the only goal in the match, bringing victory to his team. In the 2000/01 season, he played a total of 26 matches (all without replacements) ^[10] . In the summer of 2001, Lewandowski made his European debut, playing in two Intertoto Cup matches against the Bulgarian Spartak Varna (1-4 loss in the sum of two meetings) ^{[11] [12]} .

Shakhtar Donetsk

In the summer of 2000, when Lewandowski was vacationing in Miedzyzdroje , his manager Włodzimierz Lubanski announced the possibility of organizing a transfer to Donetsk Shakhtar ^[3] . The Pitmen's coach Viktor Prokopenko wanted to see the Pole in the team. At that time, the Belgian Brugge was also interested in Lewandowski, but the offer of the Ukrainian club turned out to be more profitable ^[13] . Thus, Lewandowski signed a contract with the Donetsk club, becoming the first Polish footballer in the history of the Ukrainian championship ^[14] . He received a T-shirt with number 18. On the team, he made his debut on July 20, 2001 in a home match against Alexandria , Shakhtar won with a minimum score of ^{[15] [16]} . On May 12, 2002, he scored the first goal in Ukraine, Shakhtar 2-0 won over Mariupol Metallurg ^[16] . On June 3, Lewandowski first met with Shakhtar’s principal rival Dynamo Kyiv . At the end of the first half, the Pole struck with a header on the Kiev goal, defender Sergei Fedorov turned up under the ball, but could not block the blow and eventually scored into his own net. It is noteworthy that the second goal Kiev also scored for themselves, setting the final score of the match 2-0 ^[13] . Lewandowski played 11 matches in the 2001/02 season, being mostly a replacement player. In the winter transfer window, Lewandowski was joined by Wojciech Kowalewski , a compatriot and partner in Diskobolia, ^[17] . Lewandowski also made friends with Anatoly Tymoshchuk , who helped him learn the Ukrainian language ^[13] . That season, the Pitmen became champions of Ukraine (this was the first champion title in the history of Shakhtar), and they also won the Ukrainian Cup. In the finals, Shakhtar won Dynamo Kyiv with a score of 3: 2, Lewandowski played all 120 minutes ^[16] .

In the fall of 2002, Lewandowski made his debut in the Champions League . He twice replaced in the qualifying games with Brugge. Both matches ended with the same score 1: 1, but Shakhtar lost in the penalty shootout 1: 4 ^[15] . In the championship, he became the main player, having played 24 matches and scoring four goals ^[18] . Shakhtar took second place in the championship and again reached the final of the national cup, but this time the club was defeated with a score of 1: 2 from Dynamo Kyiv ^[19] .

At the beginning of the 2003/04 season, Lewandowski played in the midfield center, where he performed both defensive work and connected to Shakhtar attacks. In particular, in the second leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League, the Pole scored for Moscow Lokomotiv . In the middle of the second round, he entered the field already as the central defender ^[15] . The championship of Ukraine that season for the second time in a row won Kiev “Dynamo”, and “Miner” with Lewandowski again became the second. Lewandowski played in 27 matches, scoring five goals. On May 30, 2004, he won the second cup of Ukraine with Shakhtar. In the final, Dnipro was beaten 2-0. On July 10, 2004 in Odessa, Shakhtar and Lewandowski took part in the Ukrainian Super Cup match against Dynamo. The Pole equalized in most of the time (1: 1), in the penalty shootout he took his shot, but Shakhtar lost 5: 6 ^[20] .

In the fall of 2004, Lewandowski together with Shakhtar played in the group stage of the Champions League, and then played in the UEFA Cup. In the domestic championship, Shakhtar regained the league title three years later, Lewandowski scored two goals: Dynamo Moscow (2: 0) and Arsenal (1: 1). On May 29, 2005, the Pole spent 90 minutes on the field of the final of the Ukrainian Cup with Dynamo. Shakhtar lost 0-1, and Lewandowski did not score a penalty - his goal was countered by Dynamo goalkeeper Alexander Shovkovsky ^[21] .

In the 2005/06 season, Lewandowski played 21 matches in the championship and scored one goal in the match against Tavria (1: 1). At the end of the season, Shakhtar and Dynamo scored 75 points each, and the golden match was to decide the fate of the championship. In it, Shakhtar won in extra-times with a score of 2: 1 and became the champion of the country, Lewandowski played the entire match ^[22] . In the 2006/07 season, Lewandowski did not win a single trophy with Shakhtar. He became the second in the championship and lost 1: 2 in the Dynamo Cup of Ukraine. In the Premier League, the Pole played 18 matches and scored four goals ^[23] .

In the 2007/08 season, Lewandowski also did not always play in the main team and spent 18 matches in the championship of Ukraine. He scored one goal, contributing to the victory with a score 3-0 in the match against Neftyanik-Ukrneft . Shakhtar became the country's champion for the fourth time, and then won the cup (the Pole did not play in the final mast with Dynamo (2-0)) and the Ukrainian Super Cup ^[24] . In the summer of 2008, Celtic , Everton , Fulham and Nantes became interested in Lewandowski, but it didn’t reach the screenings. The player decided to stay at Shakhtar mainly because of the opportunity to play in the Champions League ^[25] .

In the 2008/09 season, Lewandowski with Shakhtar took second place in the Premier League ^[26] . In May, the team reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, where they met with a principal rival - Dynamo. After the first match (1: 1), Dynamo fans attacked a bus with Shakhtar players. One of the stones fell into the window at the place of Lewandowski, but the Pole was not injured ^[27] . In the second leg, the Pitmen won 2-1 and reached the final. May 20, 2009 Lewandowski played in the UEFA Cup final with Werder Bremen . Shakhtar won by a score of 2: 1 after extra time, Lewandowski played all 120 minutes, earned a yellow card and could score with a long shot from the summer ^[28] . After the game, the Pole wore the hands of his son Yakub and a red and white flag ^[13] . The Pitmen were the last UEFA Cup winners since the trophy has been renamed the UEFA Europa League since the 2009/10 season. Lewandowski became the fourth Pole who won this trophy, after Andrzej Bunzol , Tomasz Jonsa and Eusebius Smolyarek ^[29] . For winning the UEFA Cup, Lewandowski received a prize of 400,000 euros from the president of Shakhtar Rinat Akhmetov ^[30] . In connection with this achievement, he was awarded the title " Honored Master of Sports of Ukraine " and awarded the Ukrainian Order "For Courage" ^[31] . According to the results of the fans' vote, Lewandowski got into the symbolic team in the history of Shakhtar ^[32] .

In the 2009/10 season, after strengthening the team, coach Mircea Lucescu did not always give the Pole a chance to play ^[33] . He spent 14 matches in the Ukrainian championship, scoring two goals ^[34] .

Sevastopol

On July 27, 2010, Lewandowski signed a three-year contract with a newcomer to the Premier League, Sevastopol ^{[35] [36]} . Together with him, his teammate Igor Duljai joined the Crimean team. The condition for Lewandowski’s transition was to maintain the salary of the Shakhtar level - in Sevastopol he received about a million dollars a year. The Pole denounced the club’s weak infrastructure. According to him, the players came to training in different T-shirts. He also said that he participated in organizing the construction of the updated club stadium. The last two facts, the former president of Sevastopol, Alexander Krasilnikov, called a lie ^[37] .

In the 2010/11 season, the Pole was the main player on the team, played 25 matches and scored six goals ^[38] . At the end of the season, “Sevastopol” dropped out in the First League, however, Lewandowski remained in the team. “Sevastopol” successfully started in the First League, beating away “ Krymteplitsa ” with a score of 2: 0. Lewandowski scored with a free kick when the team was already ahead ^[39] . However, in that season, the footballer got a cruciate ligament rupture; as a result, he played only seven matches ^[40] . In the 2012/13 season, he has already played 28 matches and scored four goals, having won a promotion to the Premier League with the club ^[41] . For some time he was the captain of the team ^[42] . In the last season, he played in 16 matches and scored two goals. On November 27, 2013, the Pole left the Crimean club ^[43] , the conflict was with the leadership. As a result, Mariusz Lewandowski ended his football career, although he did not make an official statement about it ^{[44] [45]} .