Artur Jedrzejczyk

The rise of Polish football in recent years is mainly due to a strong core group of players who have played through thick and thin to make their national team a tough nut to crack.

While the likes of Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski and Krychowiak are the known names, players like Artur Jedrzejczyk are the backbone who have been the faithful servant for the team at the heart of defense. Currently playing for Legia Warsaw, the talented defender can play both as a centre back and a full back.

Background

Jedrzejczyk was born on 4 November 1987 in Debica, Poland. He started his professional football from a local club Igloopol Debica. He got his big break when he joined Legia in 2006.

Debut

Jedrzejczyk had developed in stature as a defender at Legia and was selected in 2010 to play for Poland. His international debut was in a friendly against Ecuador at Montreal. He was a late substitute in the match where both teams shared the spoils 2-2.

Rise to glory

After making his debut, Jedrzejczyk was out of the national team for a space of two years. He marked his international return with a goal against Macedonia in a friendly. Since then, he has been a regular starter for the Poles.

He formed a solid defense partnership with Michal Pazdan and Kamil Glik at the heart of defense in the 2016 Euros where Poland reached the quarterfinals before getting agonising close in the penalty shootouts. The defense was singled out for Poland’s good performance as the sturdy backline let in just 2 goals in the five matches they played.

Jedrzejczyk was integral to Poland’s successful World Cup qualifying campaign and will be vital in their tournament aspirations in Russia.

Club career

Despite doing exceptionally well domestically, Jedrzejczyk has never got a chance to play for a high profile European club. He developed his reputation as a wily defender during his long first spell at Legia from 2006 till 2013. He underwent development through various loan spells during that time. He left Legia to play for FC Krasnodar, his only non-Polish club till date. He spent three years there and helped the club reach its only Russian Cup final in 2014, only to lose it to Rostov.