Tomasz Kuszczak

Tomasz Kuszczak (International Phonetic Alphabet: ) (TOM-ash KOOSH-chack) (born 20 March 1982 in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland) is a Poland football (soccer) player, who is a goalkeeper with the Premier League club Manchester United F.C. and the Poland national football team.

He has previously played for Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, as well as for the Germany clubs KFC Uerdingen 05 and Hertha BSC Berlin, before moving in 2004 to England West Bromwich Albion F.C.. 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 national football team Under-21 side, and has been cap (sport) four times at the senior level.

Playing career

Kuszczak joined Hertha BSC Berlin 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 (football). He was out of contract with Hertha when he was signed by the then West Brom manager Gary Megson on 14 July 2004. He had also played two international matches by this time, his debut coming on 11 December 2003 against Malta national football team. Poland won the away game 0-4.

He made his debut for West Bromwich Albion on 18 September 2004 in the Premiership match against Fulham F.C] at The Hawthorns, which ended in a 1-1 draw. He then played in the Football League Cup match against Colchester United F.C] on 21 September 2004, Albion losing 1-2.

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 FA Premier League 2004-05, with the Baggies facing a tough relegation battle. But 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 Premiership. 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.He is also very proactively involved in promoting community education.
In FA Premier League 2005-06, Kuszczak was supposed to be the reserve keeper behind Chris Kirkland. With Kirkland injured, Kuszczak kept in his first Premiership match of the season on 30 October 2005, but could not prevent Newcastle United F.C. 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 against Jason Roberts (footballer), 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.

Because of his impressive performances for West Bromwich Albion F.C., although the club was ultimately relegated, he was called up to the 23-men Poland national football team for the FIFA World Cup 2006. However in a World Cup warm-up match between Poland and Colombia national football team on 30 May 2006, he recorded a remarkable feat of conceding a goal directly from a long punt by the opposition goalkeeper, Luis Enrique "Neco" Martinez. He was then nicknamed "Kuszczak - Puszczak" (from Polish "puszczać" = "to let in"). He subsequently ended up as Artur Boruc's back-up during the tournament and did not play.

On 7 July 2006, it was confirmed by West Bromwich Albion manager Bryan Robson that Manchester United F.C. made a bid for Kuszczak of around 2 million pounds. 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 (footballer) and defender Paul McShane to West Bromwich Albion. 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."

Kuszczak made his debut in a Premier League match against Arsenal F.C. 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 F.C. in the Football 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 Premiership 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.

Due to Dutch keeper Edwin Van der Sar's presence at the club, Kuszczak has been named Manchester United's number 2 for the new football season (2007), during an interview in May 2007 Kuszczak stated that he one day wanted to become the number 1 at Manchester United and with 24 year old Ben Foster as the only competition for the number 1 spot, this ambition looks likely for the near future. Although since Ben Foster has already been tipped to be number 1 for the current season, and only injury has prevented this, Kuszczak has got another season to impress the Old Trafford faithful.

Apps in national football team

Honours

With Manchester United (2006-present)

- FA Premier League - Champions (1): 2006-07 (Special application)
- FA Community Shield - Champions : 2007-08