Jakub Błaszczykowski

Personal information
Full name	Jakub Błaszczykowski
Date of birth	14 December 1985 (1985-12-14) (age 24)
Place of birth	Częstochowa, Poland
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Borussia Dortmund
Number	16
Youth career
1993–2002	Raków Częstochowa
2002–2003	Górnik Zabrze
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2004	KS Częstochowa	24	(11)
2004–2007	Wisła Kraków	51	(4)
2007–	Borussia Dortmund	67	(5)
National team‡
2006–	Poland	27	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 20 December 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:35, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

Jakub Błaszczykowski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjakub bwaʂtʂɨˈkɔfski]  ( listen); born 14 December 1985 in Częstochowa), also known by his shirt name Kuba, is a Polish football midfielder who plays for Borussia Dortmund and the Polish national team, usually as a right-winger.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early career 1.2 Wisła Kraków 1.3 Borussia Dortmund 2 International career 2.1 Poland goals 3 Statistics 4 Honours 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Jakub Błaszczykowski was raised in Truskolasy near Częstochowa. When he was 8 years old, he and his older brother Dawid began training at Raków Częstochowa.^[1] At the age of 11, he lost his mother in a family tragedy. He was then raised by his grandmother, however, as a result of the shock of his mother's death, he stopped playing football entirely.^[2] A year later, he was persuaded to take part in a futsal tournament where he was voted best player. His uncle Jerzy Brzęczek, a former captain of the Polish national football team urged him not to waste his talent.^[2] He decided to resume training at Raków Częstochowa. In 2002, he transferred to Górnik Zabrze but was unable to break through at the club. In early 2003 he joined KS Częstochowa and played in the Polish fourth league until the end of 2004. His uncle then helped him get a trial at Wisła Kraków where he impressed then-manager Werner Lička.^[2]

[edit] Wisła Kraków

Błaszczykowski quickly broke into Wisła's first team, with his first league appearance coming on 20 March 2005 against Polonia Warsaw. By the end of the season, he was an established part of Wisła's starting eleven. With Wisła he won the Polish Ekstraklasa title in his debut season, and they were runners-up the following season. Additionally he won Canal+'s "Football Oscar" for the best midfielder in the Polish top division.

[edit] Borussia Dortmund

In February 2007 he signed a four-year contract with Borussia Dortmund for three million euros and joined the Bundesliga side in July of that year. He usually plays on the wing where his dribbling and pace come in handy but Borussia have also played him at right-wingback on a few occasions.

He scored his first league goal for Borussia on 25 April 2008 in a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.

He wears 'Kuba' on the back of his Dortmund shirt only. Kuba is a diminutive form of Jakub.

In December 2008 he was voted Polish Footballer of the Year.^[3] and a month later, in January 2009 he was voted the best Borussia Dortmund Player of the Year by fans, outrunning Neven Subotić and Alexander Frei. The Polish midfielder garnered more than 35% of the votes cast.

During the 2008–09 season he was plagued by a torn leg muscle.^[4]

[edit] International career

Błaszczykowski debuted for the Poland national football team on 28 March 2006 in a friendly against Saudi Arabia. Although he did not receive a call up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was an important part of Poland's 2008 Euro qualifying campaign.^[5] He scored his first goal for Poland on 22 August 2007 in a friendly against Russia.^[6]

He was named in Poland's squad for Euro 2008 but withdrew due to injury.^[5]

[edit] Poland goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	22 August 2007	Moscow, Russia	Russia	2-2	Draw	Friendly
2.	11 October 2008	Chorzów, Poland	Czech Republic	2-1	Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

[edit] Statistics

(correct as of 23 May 2009)

Club	Season	League	Domestic League		Domestic Cups		European Cups		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
KS Częstochowa	2002–03	III Liga	2	0	–		–		2	0
	2003–04	III Liga	13	5	–		–		13	5
	2004–05	III Liga	9	6	–		–		9	6
Wisła Kraków	2004–05	Ekstraklasa	11	1	4	1	–		15	2
	2005–06	Ekstraklasa	17	0	2	0	1	0	20	0
	2006–07	Ekstraklasa	23	2	1	1	8	0	32	3
Borussia Dortmund	2007–08	Bundesliga	24	1	3	0	–		27	1
	2008–09	Bundesliga	27	3	0	0	2	0	29	3
Total	KS Częstochowa		24	11	-	-	-	-	24	11
Total	Wisła Kraków		51	3	7	2	9	0	67	5
Total	Borussia Dortmund		51	4	3	0	2	0	56	4

[edit] Honours

• Wisła Kraków:
  • Ekstraklasa winners: 2004-05
  • Ekstraklasa runners-up: 2005-06

• Borussia Dortmund:
  • German Cup runners-up: 2007-08
  • German Supercup winners: 2008

• Personal:
  • Polish Footballer of the Year: 2008
  • Polish Soccer Oscar for the best Ekstraklasa midfielder: 2006

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• National team stats on pzpn.pl (Polish)
• Jakub Błaszczykowski FIFA competition record
• Polish league stats on 90minut.pl (Polish)
• Bundesliga stats

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