Roman Kosecki

Roman Kosecki

Personal information
Date of birth	(1966-02-15) 15 February 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth	Piaseczno, Poland
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) [1]
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1982–1983	RKS Mirków
1983–1986	RKS Ursus
1986–1988	Gwardia Warsaw	60	(18)
1988–1990	Legia Warsaw	51	(12)
1990–1992	Galatasaray	38	(19)
1992–1993	Osasuna	34	(8)
1993–1995	Atlético Madrid	59	(14)
1995–1996	FC Nantes	27	(2)
1996–1997	Montpellier	19	(2)
1997–1998	Legia Warsaw	10	(0)
1998–1999	Chicago Fire	50	(12)
International career
	Poland U18
1988–1995	Poland	69	(19)
Medal record Men's football Representing   Poland UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1984 Soviet Union
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roman Jacek Kosecki (born 15 February 1966) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. In 1994, he was voted the Polish Footballer of the Year. ^[2]

Career

In his club career, Kosecki played for RKS URSUS, Gwardia Warsaw, Legia Warsaw, Galatasaray, CA Osasuna, Atlético Madrid, Nantes, Montpellier, and the Chicago Fire. ^[3] Osasuna transferred Kosecki to Atlético Madrid after the 1992–93 La Liga season, the second most expensive transfer of a foreign player in that window. ^[4] 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. ^[5] He came to Major League Soccer in the Fire's inaugural season in 1998, joining fellow Polish internationals Peter Nowak and Jerzy Podbrozny. ^[6] Kosecki proceeded to score the first goal in Fire's history in a 2–0 win over the Miami Fusion. He then helped the club to the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup double. Kosecki played two seasons in MLS, scoring 12 goals and 19 assists in league play, before retiring as a player.^{[ citation needed ]}

For Poland, Kosecki was capped 69 times, scoring 19 goals between 1988 and 1995. ^[7]

He was a deputy (poseł) to the Polish Sejm from Civic Platform in 2005. ^[8] Kosecki ran for the position of president of the PZPN in 2012 but lost to Polish soccer legend Zbigniew Boniek. Boniek however appointed him to vice president of youth development.

Personal life

His son Jakub Kosecki is also a professional football player.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Poland	1988	7	3
	1989	13	2
	1990	15	5
	1991	9	1
	1992	6	4
	1993	7	0
	1994	5	2
	1995	7	2
Total		69	19

International goals

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

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	10 February 1988	Tel Aviv, Israel	Israel	3–1	Friendly
2	13 July 1988	New Britain, United States	United States	2–0	Friendly
3	13 July 1988	New Britain, United States	United States	2–0	Friendly
4	8 February 1989	San José, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	4–2	Friendly
5	14 February 1989	Puebla, Mexico	Mexico	1–3	Friendly
6	11 February 1990	Cairo, Egypt	Kuwait	1–1	Friendly
7	4 May 1990	Chicago, United States	Colombia	1–2	Friendly
8	21 May 1990	Marseille, France	United Arab Emirates	4–0	Friendly
9	10 October 1990	Warsaw, Poland	United States	2–3	Friendly
10	19 December 1990	Volos, Greece	Greece	2–1	Friendly
11	17 April 1991	Warsaw, Poland	Turkey	3–0	UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
12	19 May 1992	Salzburg, Austria	Austria	4–2	Friendly
13	19 May 1992	Salzburg, Austria	Austria	4–2	Friendly
14	5 July 1992	Guatemala City, Guatemala	Guatemala	2–2	Friendly
15	5 July 1992	Guatemala City, Guatemala	Guatemala	2–2	Friendly
16	9 February 1994	Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain	Spain	1–1	Friendly
17	4 September 1994	Tel Aviv, Israel	Israel	1–2	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
18	25 April 1995	Zabrze, Poland	Israel	4–3	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
19	7 June 1995	Zabrze, Poland	Slovakia	5–0	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying

Honours

Legia Warsaw ^[9]

• Polish Cup: 1988–89, 1989–90
• Polish Super Cup: 1990

Galatasaray ^[9]

• Turkish Cup: 1990–91
• Turkish Super Cup: 1991

Chicago Fire ^[9]

• MLS Cup: 1998
• U.S. Open Cup: 1998

Poland U18

• UEFA European Under-18 Championship third place: 1984 ^[9]

Individual

• Polish Newcomer of the Year: 1988 ^[10]
• Piłka Nożna Polish Footballer of the Year: 1994 ^[10]
• MLS All-Star: 1999 ^[11]

References

1. mlssoccer. "Roman Kosecki | MLSsoccer.com". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
2. "Player of the year – Poland". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
3. "Roman Kosecki" (in Polish). 90 Minut. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
4. "Los países del Este aportan la mitad de los jugadores extranjeros en Primera" (in Spanish). Madrid: ABC. 30 August 1993.
5. "Kosecki, 'futbolista del año' en Polonia". El País (in Spanish). 18 December 1994.
6. "Meet the Fire: Roman Kosecki". Chicago Sun-Times. 16 June 1998.
7. Klukowski, Tomasz (9 November 2002). "Roman Kosecki – International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
8. "Roman Kosecki pierwszym kandydatem na prezesa PZPN" (in Polish). Nasze Miasto. 29 June 2012.
9. "Roman Kosecki". 90minut.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 15 February 2024.
10. "Laureaci". pilkanozna.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 16 July 2024.
11. "1999 MLS All-Star Game". MLSsoccer.com. 17 July 1999. Retrieved 27 July 2023.