Roman Jacek Kosecki (born 15 February 1966) 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 ...

who played as a striker.

Career

In his club career, Kosecki played for RKS URSUS,

Gwardia Warsaw Gwardia Warszawa was a Polish sports club based in Warsaw. The club was founded in 1948. It participated in the Polish 1st League from 1953–1960 (8 seasons), 1962–1966 (5 seasons), 1967–1968, 1969–1975, 1978–1979 and 1981–1983. The ...

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other dep ...

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in ...

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

, Montpellier, and the Chicago Fire. Osasuna transferred Kosecki to Atlético Madrid after the

1992–93 La Liga The 1992–93 La Liga season, the 62nd since its establishment, started on September 5, 1992, and finished on June 20, 1993. Barcelona won the title for the third successive season, finishing a single point ahead of Real Madrid. Team informatio ...

season, the second most expensive transfer of a foreign player in that window. After a successful year with Atlético Madrid and the Poland national team, Kosecki was chosen as the 1994 Polish footballer of the year by ''Piłka Nożna'' magazine. He came to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

in the Fire's inaugural season in 1998, joining fellow Polish internationals Peter Nowak and

Jerzy Podbrozny Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. People ...

. Kosecki proceeded to score the first goal in Fire's history in a 2–0 win over the

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best sea ...

. He then helped the club to the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

and

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

double. Kosecki played two seasons in MLS, scoring 12 goals and 19 assists in league play, before retiring as a player. For

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, Kosecki was capped 69 times, scoring 19 goals between 1988 and 1995. He was a deputy ( poseł) to the Polish

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

from

Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It w ...

in 2005. Kosecki ran for the position of president of the PZPN in 2012 but lost to Polish soccer legend

Zbigniew Boniek Zbigniew Boniek (; born 3 March 1956) is a Polish former footballer and manager as well as current UEFA vice-president. A former midfielder, who was also capable of playing mostly as a right winger and second striker, he is considered one of the ...

. Boniek however appointed him to vice president of youth development.

Personal life

His son

Jakub Kosecki Jakub Kosecki (; born August 29, 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Weszło Warsaw. Career Having been around the world in various youth teams as a child, in March 2009, Kosecki moved to Legia Warsaw. He was ...

is also a professional football player.

International goals

::''Scores and results table. Poland's goal tally first:''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosecki, Roman 1966 births Living people Polish footballers Poland international footballers Polish football managers Legia Warsaw players Galatasaray S.K. footballers CA Osasuna players Atlético Madrid footballers FC Nantes players Montpellier HSC players Chicago Fire FC players Ekstraklasa players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Süper Lig players Polish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate soccer players in the United States Polish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Polish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Polish expatriate sportspeople in France Polish expatriate sportspeople in the United States People from Piaseczno Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Gwardia Warsaw players Sportspeople from Masovian Voivodeship Association football forwards Civic Platform politicians Polish sportsperson-politicians Members of the Polish Sejm 2005–2007 Members of the Polish Sejm 2007–2011 Members of the Polish Sejm 2011–2015