Józef Wandzik (born 13 August 1963) is a Polish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Born in Tarnowskie Góry, Wandzik began his career at Rodlo Gorniki, before moving to

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...

. After a couple of years playing there, he was transferred to rival club

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

. With Górnik Zabrze, he went on to win the Polish League in 1985-1988 and came third in 1989. His reliability earned him a transfer to Greek club Panathinaikos in the summer of 1990. With Panathinaikos, he achieved much success, reaching the semi-final of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

in 1995, losing only to

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in the second game. He also went ahead and won the Greek League in 1991, 1995 and 1996, the Greek Cup in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1995, the Greek League and the Greek Supercup in 1993 and 1995. At the same time, Wandzik was unbeaten for 906 and 988 minutes, setting the third and fourth records in Greece. His performances have been memorable to the fans and he has earned the nickname of "Vouno" (translation "mountain"), a nickname he has earned throughout the years for his tremendous presence in the goal. After almost a decade at Panathinaikos, he had season-long stints at Apollon Smyrnis and Athinaikos, before ending his career in 2001. He was awarded by the Greek Football Federation a Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication and service to Greek Football. He has been considered by many as the greatest foreign goalkeeper of all times in Greece.

International career

Wandzik started his international career in the Poland national under-18 team with which he reached the finals of the 1981 World Cup. He then went to achieve third place at the Under-20 World Cup with Poland. He moved to the first national team in December 1985 and was the number one pick for the next decade. He won 52 caps for the Poland national team, the first coming on 9 December 1985 against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, and the last on 25 April 1995 against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He has set the record for the Poland national team for no lost goals in 25 games, beating the record set by the legendary Jan Tomaszewski. Despite his prowess, he only represented Poland at one major tournament, the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

where he was third-choice behind

Józef Młynarczyk Józef Młynarczyk (born 20 September 1953) is a Polish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeping coach for the Poland national under-21 fo ...

and

Jacek Kazimierski Jacek Kazimierski (born 17 August 1959) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He began his career in Agrykola Warsaw and later played for Legia Warsaw, Olympiacos and K.A.A. Gent. He won the Polish Cup twic ...

, and was unable to lead Poland to another tournament since.

Managerial career

After his retirement in 2001, Wandzik worked as a goalkeeping coach for Kallithea F.C. but has moved to being a coach for younger talents in different academies.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Górnik Zabrze *

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88 *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

: 1988 Panathinaikos *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 1990–91, 1994–95, 1995–96 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95 * Greek Super Cup: 1988,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Poland U20 * FIFA World Youth Championship third place:

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Poland U18 * UEFA European Under-18 Championship runner-up:

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wandzik, Jozef 1963 births Living people Footballers from Tarnowskie Góry Polish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Poland men's international footballers Poland men's youth international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players Naturalized citizens of Greece Ruch Chorzów players Górnik Zabrze players Panathinaikos F.C. players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Athinaikos F.C. players Ekstraklasa players Super League Greece players Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Association football goalkeeping coaches 20th-century Polish sportsmen