Marcin Wasilewski

This article is about the football player. For the jazz musician, see Marcin Wasilewski (pianist).

Marcin Wasilewski

Wasilewski with Anderlecht in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Marcin Ryszard Wasilewski [1]
Date of birth	(1980-06-09) 9 June 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Kraków, Poland
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) [2]
Position(s)	Centre back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2000	Hutnik Kraków	54	(0)
2000–2002	Śląsk Wrocław	51	(5)
2002–2005	Wisła Płock	60	(3)
2005–2006	Amica Wronki	24	(4)
2006–2007	Lech Poznań	14	(5)
2007–2013	Anderlecht	145	(20)
2013–2017	Leicester City	61	(1)
2017–2020	Wisła Kraków	60	(1)
Total		469	(39)
International career
2002–2013	Poland	60	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marcin Ryszard Wasilewski (born 9 June 1980) is a Polish football pundit and former player who played as a centre-back. He is best known for winning the Premier League with Leicester City and getting injured after a challenge by Axel Witsel during a match in 2009.

Career

Early career

Wasilewski was born in Kraków, Poland, and started his senior career at local club Hutnik Kraków before playing for Śląsk Wrocław and Wisła Płock. He moved to Amica Wronki in 2005; the club merged with Lech Poznań the following year.^{[ citation needed ]}

Anderlecht

He was acquired by Belgian side Anderlecht in January 2007.^{[ citation needed ]} During the 2008–09 season he was the club's third-most prolific goalscorer, tying with Guillaume Gillet at eight goals.^{[ citation needed ]}

Leg injury

On 30 August 2009, Wasilewski suffered an open leg fracture in the 26th minute of the 1–1 Jupiler League draw between Anderlecht and Standard Liège when Liège's Axel Witsel made a challenge. Witsel was red-carded for the offence. Wasilewski underwent corrective surgery for open fractures to both the tibia and fibula. Witsel was suspended for eight games by the Belgian FA over the incident, after an appeal. ^[3]

Return

After a long rehabilitation, Wasilewski made his return on 8 May 2010. ^[4] He celebrated his return to Anderlecht's first eleven with the opening goal of his side's 2–1 win at S.V. Zulte Waregem.^{[ citation needed ]}

His drive to return was rewarded with a new contract until the summer of 2013, with the club describing him as "a club monument, who had to deliver an inhuman battle". ^[5]

Wasilewski and Witsel, then of Zenit St. Petersburg, met again on the field on 24 October 2012 in a UEFA Champions League group match. Wasilewski announced in advance that he would refuse to shake hands with Witsel before the game, with Anderlecht management accepting his decision. ^[6] However, he ultimately changed his mind and accepted Witsel's hand, saying that he did not want to "turn the atmosphere of the match into a personal duel". ^[7]

Leicester City

Wasilewski playing for Leicester City in a league match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 15 May 2016

On 14 September 2013, Wasilewski was reported to be undergoing a trial with Leicester City in the English Championship, in the hope of landing a contract. ^[8] On 17 September he was confirmed as having signed for the Foxes on a one-year contract. ^[9] He made his debut in a League Cup third-round match against Derby County on 24 September, playing the entire match as Leicester won 2–1. ^[10] On 30 November 2013, a coachload of Anderlecht fans travelled to Leicester's King Power Stadium to support Wasilewski at his new club. ^[11] There were emotional scenes after he played a key role in City's 3–0 win over Millwall. ^[11] Wasilewski established himself as a first-team regular as Leicester finished the season as Championship champions and secured their return to the Premier League. On 22 May 2014, he extended his contract by a further year.^{[ citation needed ]}

Wasilewski made his Premier League debut on 1 November 2014, in the 0–1 defeat against West Bromwich Albion, during which he appeared to elbow opposing striker Saido Berahino; however, the FA cleared the defender. ^[12] On 31 January 2015, Wasilewski scored his first goal in English football, heading in a late consolation goal in Leicester's 3–1 defeat by Manchester United ^[13] which was also the second goal ever scored in the Premier League by a Polish footballer; Robert Warzycha had scored in the competition's opening weekend, 22+1⁄2 years earlier. ^[14] On 4 June, Wasilewski announced via his Instagram account that he had signed a new one-year contract with Leicester City. ^[15]

He made his first league appearance of the 2015–16 Premier League season on 19 December 2015 when he started in a 3–2 win over Everton. ^[16] Wasilewski played only two league games before Leicester's Premier League trophy presentation on 7 May 2016, making him ineligible for a winner's medal (a minimum of five league games is required). ^[17] Nonetheless, owing to teammate Robert Huth's suspension, Wasilewski played the final two matches of the Premier League season, taking his appearances up to four. On 14 June 2016, Wasilewski signed a one-year extension to his contract. ^[18]

Wasilewski's first senior appearance in 2016–17 ended in his dismissal in the 89th minute for elbowing Diego Costa in a 2–4 EFL Cup third-round defeat to Chelsea on 20 September 2016. ^[19]

International

Wasilewski made his debut in a friendly match against Denmark in Copenhagen on 20 November 2002. ^[20] Wasilewski was also part of the Poland squads for Euro 2008 and Euro 2012.^{[ citation needed ]}

Career statistics

Wasilewski and his family celebrating Leicester's Premier League victory at the King Power Stadium on 7 May 2016

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ^{[21] [22] [23]}

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hutnik Kraków	1998–99	I liga	14	0	—		—		—		14	0
	1999–2000	I liga	40	0	1	0	—		—		41	0
	Total		54	0	1	0	—		—		55	0
Śląsk Wrocław	2000–01	Ekstraklasa	25	1	—		—		—		25	1
	2001–02	Ekstraklasa	26	4	1	1	—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	28	5
	Total		51	5	1	1	—		1	0	53	6
Wisła Płock	2002–03	Ekstraklasa	24	1	8	0	—		—		32	1
	2003–04	Ekstraklasa	21	1	1	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		24	1
	2004–05	Ekstraklasa	15	1	8	0	—		—		23	1
	Total		60	3	17	0	2	0	—		79	3
Amica Wronki	2005–06	Ekstraklasa	24	4	2	0	—		—		26	4
Lech Poznań	2006–07	Ekstraklasa	14	5	2	0	1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		17	5
Anderlecht	2006–07	Belgian Pro League	14	2	0	0	0	0	—		14	2
	2007–08	Belgian Pro League	26	3	0	0	11	1	—		37	3
	2008–09	Belgian Pro League	30	8	0	0	1	0	—		31	8
	2009–10	Belgian Pro League	6	1	0	0	4	0	—		10	1
	2010–11	Belgian Pro League	17	3	0	0	2	0	—		19	3
	2011–12	Belgian Pro League	30	3	2	0	8	1	—		40	4
	2012–13	Belgian Pro League	22	0	4	0	6	0	1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	33	0
	Total		145	20	6	0	32	2	1	0	184	22
Leicester City	2013–14	Championship	31	0	1	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 5]	0	35	0
	2014–15	Premier League	25	1	2	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 5]	0	28	1
	2015–16	Premier League	4	0	2	1	—		3 [lower-alpha 5]	0	9	1
	2016–17	Premier League	1	0	2	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 5]	0	5	0
	Total		61	1	7	1	1	0	8	0	77	2
Wisła Kraków	2017–18	Ekstraklasa	17	1	0	0	—		—		17	1
	2018–19	Ekstraklasa	28	0	0	0	—		—		28	0
	2019–20	Ekstraklasa	15	0	0	0	—		—		15	0
	Total		60	1	0	0	—		—		60	1
Career total			469	39	36	2	37	2	10	0	552	43

1. Appearance in Polish League Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Cup
3. Appearance in UEFA Intertoto Cup
4. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
5. Appearances in League Cup

International

Source: ^[22]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Poland
	2002	1	0
	2003	4	0
	2004	1	0
	2005	1	0
	2006	5	1
	2007	11	0
	2008	11	0
	2009	4	1
	2010	0	0
	2011	6	0
	2012	13	1
	2013	3	0
Total		60	3

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first ^[24]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 December 2006	Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	2–0	5–2	Friendly
2	12 August 2009	Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium, Bydgoszcz	Greece	1–0	2–0	Friendly
3	2 June 2012	Pepsi Arena, Warsaw	Andorra	4–0	4–0	Friendly

Honours

Anderlecht ^[25]

• Belgian Pro League: 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13
• Belgian Cup: 2007–08
• Belgian Super Cup: 2007, 2010

Leicester City

• Football League Championship: 2013–14 ^[26]

References

1. Andrzej Gowarzewski: Biało-Czerwoni. Dzieje reprezentacji Polski (6) 2008–2015. Katowice: Wydawnictwo GiA, 2016, p. 251. ISBN   978-83-88232-48-0.
2. "Marcin Wasilewski: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
3. "Witsel handed lengthy ban". Sky Sports.
4. Koźmiński, Piort (10 March 2010). "Wasilewski grateful for Anderlecht return". UEFA. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
5. Scholten, Berend (1 February 2011). "Anderlecht reward Wasilewski for winning battle". UEFA. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
6. "No handshake between Wasyl and Witsel". anderlecht-online.be. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
7. "Champions League: The latest on Anderlecht". Zenit. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
8. Hubbard, Ryan (14 September 2013). "Wasilewski on trial at Leicester City". EKSTRAKLASAreview.co.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
9. "Foxes complete Wasilewski signing". LCFC.com. Leicester City F.C. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
10. Leicester 2 – 1 Derby, BBC Sport, 24 September 2013, retrieved 2 January 2014
11. Leicester City 3 Millwall 0 – match report: Emphatic win sees City top Championship, Leicester Mercury, 30 November 2013, archived from the original on 2 January 2014, retrieved 2 January 2014
12. "Premier League: Leicester defender Marcin Wasilewski avoids FA action". Sky Sports. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
13. "Manchester United 3–1 Leicester City". BBC Sport. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
14. "Global Game: The 91 Different Premier League Goal Scorer Nationalities". 3 November 2014.
15. "Marcin Wasilewski signs new one-year contract at Leicester City". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015.
16. "Everton 2–3 Leicester". BBC Sport. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
17. "Which Leicester players get a Premier League winners' medal?". Sky Sports. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
18. "Wasilewski signs new one-year contract". Leicester City FC. 14 June 2016.
19. Gary Rose (20 September 2016). "Leicester City 2–4 Chelsea (AET)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
20. FIFA World Cup – Wasilewski – UEFA.com, UEFA, retrieved 2 January 2014
21. "M. WASILEWSKI". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
22. "Wasilewski, Marcin". National-Football-Teams. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
23. "Marcin Wasilewski". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 9 June 2024.
24. Andrzej Gowarzewski: Biało-Czerwoni. Dzieje reprezentacji Polski (6) 2008–2015. Katowice: Wydawnictwo GiA, 2016, p. 41. ISBN   978-83-88232-48-0.
25. "Marcin Wasilewski". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 9 June 2024.
26. Anderson, John, ed. (2014). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2014–2015. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 200–201. ISBN   978-1-4722-1251-1.

External links

• Marcin Wasilewski at Soccerbase
• Marcin Wasilewski at 90minut.pl (in Polish)
• National team stats ^{[ permanent dead link ]} on the website of the Polish Football Association (in Polish)