Szczęsny Wojciech
Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Juventus and the Poland national team. After starting his club career at Legia Warsaw, Szczęsny signed for Arsenal in January 2006, where he made his professional debut in 2009. After a spell on loan with Brentford the following season, he later became the capital club’s first choice goalkeeper, winning two FA Cups and being the joint recipient of the 2013–14 Premier League Golden Glove with Petr Čech. He subsequently went on two consecutive season-long loans to Italian club Roma in 2015, where his performances earned him a move to reigning league champions Juventus in 2017. After serving mainly as a back-up to Gianluigi Buffon in his first season, during which he won a domestic double, he inherited the starting spot from the departed Buffon the following season, winning his second Serie A title; his performances also earned him a Yashin Trophy nomination in 2019.[4] He won a third consecutive league title the following season, also winning the Serie A Best Goalkeeper Award. At the international level, Szczęsny has earned 70 caps for Poland since his debut in 2009, and was included in the nation’s squad as it co-hosted UEFA Euro 2012, also later taking part at Euro 2016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
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This shirt was worn by Wojciech Szczesny during the Serie A game between Juventus and Lazio which took place in Torino, “Allianz Stadium”, on July 20th 2020. Juventus defeated Lazio 2-1. Szczęsny was signed by Juventus on July 19th 2017 for a €12.2 million initial fee (plus an additional €3.1m in conditional bonuses) on a four-year contract. Upon Buffon’s return to Juventus in the summer of 2019, Szczęsny offered him the number 1 shirt, but Buffon turned it down, saying “I didn’t come back to take something from someone or take it back. I just want to do my bit for the team. It’s only right that the starting goalkeeper, Szczesny, has the number 1 jersey”. Instead, Buffon chose to wear number 77, the same number he had worn during his final season at Parma before initially joining Juventus in 2001. On 26 July 2020, he kept a clean-sheet in a 2–0 home win over Sampdoria, which allowed Juventus to clinch the Serie A title. For his performances, he was named the Best Goalkeeper of the season by Lega Serie A.
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Szczęsny was born in Warsaw. He is the son of Maciej Szczęsny, who was also a professional goalkeeper, having played for Legia Warszawa, Widzew Łódź, Polonia Warsaw and Wisła Kraków, along with seven games for the Poland national team. In October 2009, new manager Franciszek Smuda sent Szczęsny his first call up to the full national side, for the friendly matches against Romania and Canada. He made his debut against Canada on 18 November, coming on as a half-time substitute for Tomasz Kuszczak in a 1–0 victory at the Zdzislawa Krzyszkowiaka Stadium in Bydgoszcz. He earned his second cap and his first full match on 9 February 2011, in another friendly win of the same score, against Norway at the Estádio Algarve. Szczęsny had a strong performance against Germany on 6 September 2011, making eight critical saves in a 2–2 draw; this earned him praise from former German international goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. He was sent off in the opening game of Poland’s co-hosting of UEFA Euro 2012 against Greece, for a professional foul on Dimitris Salpingidis, costing Poland a penalty which was saved by Przemysław Tytoń in a 1–1 draw. Szczęsny failed to play again for the rest of the tournament as Tytoń played the remainder as Poland finished bottom of Group A with two points. On 12 October 2014, Szczęsny was pivotal in securing his country’s historic first victory over Germany in a Euro 2016 qualifier. He played in his nation’s opening game of the tournament against Northern Ireland. He kept a clean sheet in his nation’s first ever win at a European Championship, but suffered an injury, which kept him out of the rest of their campaign. Poland nonetheless made it to the quarter-finals, with former Arsenal teammate Łukasz Fabiański in goal.
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In January 2006 Szczęsny joined the Arsenal youth set-up, progressing to the reserve team during the 2008–09 season. In November 2008, he lost his balance while lifting a heavy weight and both his forearms were fractured, causing him to miss five months. Szczęsny appeared on the first team bench for the first time during the Premier League match against Stoke City on 24 May 2009, remaining unused as the team concluded their season with a 4–1 victory at the Emirates Stadium. Following the release of Manuel Almunia, Szczęsny was given the vacated number 1 shirt. After a couple of months out with injury, Szczęsny made his return in the 5–2 win against Tottenham. On 13 March 2013, Szczęsny was dropped from the Arsenal team to play Bayern Munich in the Champions League. In Arsenal’s next Premier League match, against Swansea City, Szczęsny returned to the Arsenal squad but was named only as a substitute, with Łukasz Fabiański selected to start in goal by Arsène Wenger. On 20 April 2013, Szczęsny returned to the team in a Premier League match at home to Everton due to a rib injury sustained by Fabiański. In his first two matches back in the Arsenal goal, he kept consecutive clean sheets against Everton and Fulham respectively.
