Grzegorz Rasiak

Grzegorz Rasiak (Wikibooks:Polish/Polish pronunciation 1979 in Szczecin, is a Poland international association football who currently plays for Watford F.C.. Since 2002 he has played for the Poland national football team.

After starting his career in his native Poland, Rasiak moved to Britain with Derby County F.C. in 2004. He subsequently had spells with Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Southampton F.C. and Bolton Wanderers F.C. before joining Watford.

Domestic career

Poland

In the 1996–97 season Rasiak joined second division side Warta Poznań where he spent two seasons. In 1998 he moved to First Division side GKS Bełchatów, before moving to Odra Wodzisław for the 2000–01 season. The next season he moved to the club where he first achieved a level of success, Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski. In three seasons at Dyskobolia he played in 66 league matches, scoring 34 goals, forming a partnership in 2003–04 with Andrzej Niedzielan.

In 2004 he was recruited by Italian club AC Siena. It then emerged that was unable to play for the club, as they have exceeded their limit of foreign players.

Derby County

Rasiak joined England Football League Championship side Derby County F.C. on 24 September 2004. In his 2004-05 in English football with the club he scored 16 goals in 35 matches, as Derby finished in fourth place, but failed to get through the play-offs.

After failing to gain promotion, the club were under financial pressure and were forced by their bankers to raise cash, which led to Rasiak being sold to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur F.C. for a fee said to be up to £2m.

Tottenham Hotspur

Rasiak signed on 31 August 2005, the final day of the transfer window. On his arrival, manager Martin Jol described Rasiak as "a tall target man, a hard-working, honest player with a good goal scoring record."

Southampton

In February 2006, Rasiak was loaned from Spurs to Championship side Southampton F.C., where his former Derby manager George Burley was now in charge. The deal was structured initially as a three-month loan, before becoming permanent in early May 2006, with Rasiak joining Southampton for a fee of £2m.

In the 2006-07 in English football he had a strong start, scoring 17 league goals, by mid-January, with a further two goals in the FA cup. including scoring a brace 4 times in the league and once in the FA Cup, all in away matches. After mid-January he lost his place in the starting eleven to fellow countryman Marek Saganowski, finishing the season as the club's top goalscorer with 21 goals.

Bolton Wanderers

On 31 January 2008, Rasiak secured a loan move to Bolton Wanderers F.C. until the end of the season. He made his debut nine days later in a defeat to Portsmouth F.C at the Reebok Stadium.

His second appearance came during the second half of Bolton's local derby against Blackburn Rovers F.C. at Ewood Park where he scored within a couple of minutes of his introduction from the substitutes bench, only for the linesman to rule the goal out for offside.

Watford

On 15 August 2008 Rasiak signed on loan with fellow Championship side Watford F.C. until the end of the 2008-09 in English football season, with the option of a permanent transfer. He made his debut on 16 August 2008 against Charlton Athletic F.C., coming on as a substitute for Tamas Priskin on 65 minutes.

International career

Rasiak made his international debut for Poland national football team on 10 February, 2002 in a friendly match with Faroe Islands national football team under manager Jerzy Engel. He then had to wait a year before his next international appearance under Paweł Janas, before becoming a regular in the Polish team.

Rasiak has made 37 appearances for his country, scoring on 8 occasions, and was part of the team that successfully qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was selected for the 23-men national squad that competed at the Cup finals in Germany. Two years later he was not selected for the UEFA Euro 2008.

Poland Goals