Tomasz Kuszczak

Tomasz Kuszczak

Personal information
Full name	Tomasz Kuszczak
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Manchester United
Number	29
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 20 2006

Tomasz Kuszczak (IPA pronunciation: [təʊmɒʃ kuːʃtʃæk]) (TOM-ash KOOSH-chack) (born March 20 1982 in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland) is a Polish football player, who is a goalkeeper with the Premiership club Manchester United and the Poland national football team.

He has previously played for Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, as well as for the German clubs KFC Uerdingen 05 and Hertha BSC Berlin, 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.

He is most famous for his fantastic display after coming on as a substitute for West Brom against, coincidentally, Manchester United in the 2004-05 season, helping West Brom to a vital league point in their 'Great Escape' season. Kuszczak has made 14 appearances for the Poland Under-21 side, and has been capped four times at the senior level.

Playing career

Kuszczak joined Hertha Berlin in 2001, and was out of contract with the Bundesliga outfit when he was signed by the then West Brom manager Gary Megson on July 142004. He had also played two international matches by this time, his debut coming on December 11 2003 against Malta. Poland won the away game 0-4.

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

Kuszczak had only kept in one match in the Premier League before West Brom's game against Manchester United F.C. on the penultimate match day of the 2004-05 season, 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.

In 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 October 30 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 January 15 2006, Kuszczak had an impressive game against Wigan Athletic, making a match-winning save late on against 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.

Because of his impressive performances for West Bromwich Albion, 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 on May 30 2006, he recorded a remarkable feat of conceding a goal directly from a long punt by the opposition goalkeeper, Neco Martínez. 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 July 7 2006 it was confirmed by West Bromwich Albion manager Bryan Robson that Manchester United made a bid for Kuszczak of around 2 million pounds. On August 3 2006 West Bromwich Albion rejected a £2.5 million bid for Kuszczak from Manchester United, citing that a 1 year loan spell for United starlet Giuseppe Rossi would also have to be included along with the cash to result in a deal. On August 10 2006 Tomasz Kuszczak joined Manchester United in a deal which involved bringing England Under-18 goalkeeper Luke Steele 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."

It is now known that Tomasz will be on loan for a season and then will be permanently signed for Manchester United after the forthcoming season. He made his debut in the FA Premier League match against Arsenal on September 17 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 Carling Cup, the name on the back of his goalkeeper shirt was spelled incorrectly. Instead of Kuszczak, his name had been spelled "Zuszczak".

Statistics

All statistics correct up to April 17, 2007

Current Club Performance

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Man Utd	2006-07	5	0	5	0	2	0	0	0	12	0
West Brom	2005-06	28	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	30	0
	2004-05	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
Total		36	0	6	0	5	0	0	0	47	0

External links

• Tomasz Kuszczak at Soccerbase
• BBC Profile
• Official website of the Poland Football Association
• Profile on FIFA World Cup 2006 website