Paweł Brożek

Paweł Łukasz Brożek (; born 21 April 1983) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Brożek represented various youth squads for Poland before making his debut for the senior team in 2005. He earned 38 caps, and competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012.

Club career Early career Paweł Brożek was born in Kielce. In 1992, he began his career at Polonia Białogon Kielce, together with his twin brother Piotr. In 1998, he moved to Zabrze to play for SMS Zabrze. A half-a-year later, he joined Wisła Kraków, together with his brother.

Wisła Kraków Brożek made his debut for Wisła Kraków in Ekstraklasa on 8 April 2001 in a match against Górnik Zabrze. On 21 April 2001, he scored his first goal in the Ekstraklasa in a match against Odra Wodzisław. In May 2001, Brożek signed a new 10-year contract with Wisła. In 2002, he was loaned to ŁKS Łódź to play in the II liga. A half year later, he returned to Wisła Kraków and won with his second club Ekstraklasa title, in 2002–03 season. In 2004, he was loaned to GKS Katowice for a year and a half. He was a stand out player at GKS Katowice. In December 2004, he was invited for a trial together with his twin brother Piotr by West Ham United.

In January 2005, Brożek returned to Wisła Kraków, because the then Wisła manager Werner Lička wanted him to come back from loan. Brożek won the Ekstraklasa title in the 2004–05 season with Wisła Kraków. In the 2005–06 season, he began to play regularly for the Wisła Kraków first squad. Subsequently, he scored 13 goals in 30 matches. In 2006–07 season Brożek played very well in UEFA Cup, where he scored 4 goals in group stage matches against AS Nancy, FC Basel and Feyenoord Rotterdam. In the 2007–08 season, Brożek scored 23 goals in 27 matches and led Wisła Kraków to achieve the Ekstraklasa title. He was the league top scorer in the 2007–08 season. In the 2008–09 season, he won his sixth Ekstraklasa title with Wisła and was the Ekstraklasa top goal scorer for the second time in a row. In the following 2009–10 season, Brożek led his team in goals and assists while Wisła finished second in the league.

Trabzonspor In January 2011, Brożek joined Turkish Süper Lig side Trabzonspor on a -year deal for an undisclosed fee from Wisła Kraków, along with his brother. Brożek made his debut for Trabzonspor in a Turkish Cup match against Beşiktaş on 26 January 2011, assisting Alanzinho's goal with a back-heel pass. In the 2010–11 Süper Lig season, he contributed with two goals and two assists for the eventual runners-up. In the following campaign, Brożek could not establish himself in the Trabzonspor starting line-up, blocked by Turkish international Burak Yılmaz, who played as the sole striker in the system preferred by coach Şenol Güneş.

Loan to Celtic On 29 January 2012, Brożek agreed terms to join Scottish Premier League outfit Celtic on loan from Trabzonspor until the end of the season, subject to a medical. The following day, he signed a contract with Celtic after passing the medical exams. He was given the number 17 shirt. On 8 February 2012, he made his debut in the 4–0 win over Heart of Midlothian in a Scottish Premier League match, coming on as a second-half substitute for Scott Brown. He made three appearances in total for the eventual league champions, failing to score in any of them. At the end of his loan spell at Celtic, Brożek criticised Neil Lennon, stating that the Celtic manager "...promised me something and then another thing happened afterwards. I did not get many opportunities from him and I was left dry of games."

Recreativo de Huelva In August 2012, Brożek joined Spanish second-tier club Recreativo de Huelva. Brożek did not play regularly and the team were nowhere near achieving promotion, eventually finishing in thirteenth place with Brożek scoring only twice in 18 league appearances. In June 2013, it was reported Brożek was leaving Recreativo. A week later, Brożek's signing was confirmed.

On 3 May 2014, he scored a hat-trick against Pogoń Szczecin and also his 100th goal in Ekstraklasa, it took 227 appearances to achieve that.

Brożek retired from playing after the 2019–20 season.

International career

In 1999, he played at the FIFA U-17 World Championship tournament. In 2000 Brożek played at the UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship tournament. In 2001, he won UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship with Poland national under-18 football team. He played in first squad in all matches at the tournament. He was the youngest member of the team. All other under-18 team members were born in 1982, while Brożek was born in 1983. He showed a great performance in UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2004–2006 qualifying round where he scored 9 goals in 8 matches.

Brożek made his first appearance for the Poland national team against Mexico in 2005, scoring in the process. He was selected to the 23-man national squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals held in Germany, where, coming on as a substitute, he nearly scored a goal against Ecuador in their 2–0 defeat, with a left foot shot that hit the post. At the tournament, Brożek played in two group stage matches. Although he has not retired from international football, he has not appeared for the side since 2014.

Personal life His twin brother, Piotr, is also a former footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Brożek goal. + List of international goals scored by Paweł Brożek

Individual Ekstraklasa top scorer: 2007–08, 2008–09 Ekstraklasa Player of the Year: 2008 Ekstraklasa Player of the Season: 2008–09 Ekstraklasa Player of the Month: September 2019 Ekstraklasa Hall of Fame: 2023