- Robert Warzycha
Football player infobox| playername= Robert Warzycha
fullname = Robert Warzycha
nickname = The Polish Rifle
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1963|8|20
cityofbirth =Siemkowice
countryofbirth =Poland
nickn = The Polish Rifle
height =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position =midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years =1985-1987 1987-1991 1991-1994 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996-2002
clubs =Górnik Wałbrzych Górnik Zabrze EvertonPecsi Mecsek FC Budapest Honved Columbus Crew
caps(goals) =31 (5) 91 (10) 72 (6) 21 (7) 21 (6) 160 (19)
nationalyears = 1987-1993
nationalteam =Poland
nationalcaps(goals) = 47 (7)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =Robert Warzycha ( IPA2|ˈrɔbɛrt vaˈʐɨxa; born
August 20 ,1963 , inSiemkowice ) is a former Polish soccermidfielder , who spent seven seasons with theColumbus Crew ofMajor League Soccer .Warzycha came to MLS in 1996 after a long career in Poland and England, where Everton legend Gordon Watson rated him as: "among the most talented wide-men to have played for us in the post-war years,". He came to Everton for £500,000 in March 1991 from Polish club Górnik Zabrze. He spent four years (1991-94) with Everton and also played in his native Poland and
Hungary . After joining Columbus in the league's inaugural year, Warzycha became a staple in the lineup for five seasons, and then a bit player in his final two, as he battled injuries. He retired as the Crew's all-time assist leader with 61 and also scored 19 goals in MLS league play.For Poland, Warzycha was capped 47 times, scoring seven goals between 1987 and 1993. After retiring as a player, he became an assistant coach with the Crew. After
Greg Andrulis was fired in July 2005, Warzycha assumed interim head coaching duty. He went back to assisting afterSigi Schmid was hired for the full-time job.During his playing days in Columbus, Warzycha was known as "The Polish Rifle," in part because of his accuracy from free kicks.
On March 25, 2000 Warzycha scored the first-ever regular-season "Golden Goal" in Major League Soccer history. [ [http://web.mlsnet.com/t102/load.jsp?section=about&content=timeline Columbus Crew: About: timeline ] ]
References
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