Tomasz Kuszczak

At 42 years old, Tomasz Kuszczak has this physical status:

Tomasz Miroslaw Kuszczak (born 20 March 1982) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper, most recently for English club Birmingham City. Kuszczak was born in Krosno Odrzanskie, Poland, and the German clubs KFC Uerdingen 05 and Hertha BSC before moving to England with West Bromwich Albion in 2004.

He moved to Manchester United in 2006 and joined Brighton & Hove Albion, who released him in 2012 at the end of the 2013-14 season.

He signed for Birmingham City in July 2015 after spending the latter part of the 2014--15 season with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Kuszczak made 14 appearances on the Poland under-21 team, and he has been banned 11 times at senior level.

He was a member of the country's squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

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Club career

Kuszczak was born in Krosno Odrzak, Poland, and Poland. He joined Hertha BSC in 2000 and spent a year with their reserve team before being promoted to the first squad in 2001. He spent three seasons as the third-choice goalkeeper at the club, behind Gábor Király and Christian Fiedler, and has yet to make a single appearance in the Bundesliga. When he was signed by West Bromwich Albion boss Gary Megson on July 14, 2004, he was out of work with Hertha.

He made his West Brom debut in a Premier League match against Fulham at The Hawthorns on September 18, 2004. Albion lost 2–1 on September 21, 2004, when he was playing in a League Cup match against Colchester United.

Kuszczak had only scored in one match in the Premier League before West Brom's match against Manchester United on the penultimate match day of the 2004–05 season, with the Baggies fighting a tough relegation battle. After losing the first choice goalkeeper Russell Hoult in the first half, he put in a dramatic display, having to step in front of the goal. West Bromwich drew the match 1–1, with Kuszczak remaining unbeaten during his 68 minutes on the pitch. Kuszczak received his first man of the match award in the Premier League thanks to his appearance. Kuszczak had another good game the next week in the season's last game against Portsmouth, winning 2–0 and staying atop the standings.

Kuszczak was supposed to be the reserve keeper behind Chris Kirkland in 2005-06. Kuszczak kept goal in his first Premier League match of the season on October 30, 2005, but Newcastle United lost 3–0. Kirkland was injured. His appearances since then increased, allowing him to be the first-choice keeper. Despite Kirkland's return from injury, this continued. Kuszczak had a spectacular game against Wigan Athletic on January 15, 2006, making a match-winning save late on behalf of Jason Roberts, with West Bromwich winning the match 1–0. The save was voted "Save of the Season" by viewers of BBC TV's Match of the Day programme. Nonetheless, his team was relegated at the end of the season.

Manchester United boss Bryan Robson revealed on July 7th, 2006, that the team had made a bid for Kuszczak worth about £2 million. West Brom rejected a £2.5 million bid for Kuszczak from United, citing that a one-year loan loan spell for United actor Giuseppe Rossi would have to be included with the cash to result in a contract. Kuszczak joined Manchester United in a deal that involved the transfer of England Under-18 goalkeeper Luke Steele and defender Paul McShane to West Brom on August 10, 2006. United struggled to state the terms of the contract when officially announcing it, prompting suggestions that it was simply a loan agreement. "Tomasz will be a Manchester United player for the next four years," the chief executive said, "Tomasz will be on loan for the first year, and then permanently join us in July 2007."

Kuszczak made his Arsenal debut on September 17, 2006, but he didn't lose a spot kick from Gilberto Silva, but he did regain control. Despite saving the penalty, Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor scored a late penalty, giving them a 1–0 victory at Old Trafford, the club's first defeat of the season. In a 2–1 away victory over Crewe Alexandra in the League Cup on October 25, the first time he was on his first appearance appeared in a 2–1 away victory. During this game, he had his name mispelled on the back of his shirt, with the word incorrectly reading "Zuszczak." Although Kuszczak did not appear in enough Premier League games in the 2006-07 season, he received a gold medal for his first attempt to the Premier League.

Manchester United announced on July 2, 2007, that the permanent transfer had been completed for a fee of £2.125 million. Kuszczak was named Manchester United's number two for the 2007–08 season thanks to Dutch goal Edwin van der Sar's continued good form and Ben Foster's knee injury. During an interview in May 2007, Kuszczak said that he wished to be the number one at Manchester United for one day.

Kuszczak replaced the injured Van der Sar at halftime in an FA Cup match against Portsmouth, only to receive a straight red card for a foul on Milan Baro' 30 minutes later. Rio Ferdinand was forced to take over in goal but Sulley Muntari's penalty was lost, resulting in United's being kicked out of the tournament.

Kuszczak signed a two-year contract in September 2008, which will keep him at Old Trafford until 2012. Kuszczak also had trouble in becoming United's first choice after Van der Sar's departure and expressed dissatisfaction with his transfer to Manchester United, despite being ruled out in favour of Foster in the 2009 League Cup Final. He was reported to be considering his long-term future at the club in 2009. Kuszczak won by 1–0 home over Wolverham Wanderers in the third round of the League Cup in his first game of the 2009–10 season. Kuszczak returned to action against Portsmouth on November 28 after Van der Sar sustained an injury. He retained his position in the starting line-up for United's League Cup fifth round match against Tottenham Hotspur, the next league match against West Ham United and the last game of the Champions League group stage against Wolfsburg. Kuszczak kept another clean sheet in United's last game of the decade as they defeated Wigan Athletic 5–0 at Old Trafford. Van der Sar's return to the team in January 2010 saw him lose his spot in the team. He started in the 2010 Football League Cup Final against Aston Villa, where he failed to save a penalty in the first minutes of the game, but United went on to win the trophy after a 2–1 victory.

Alex Ferguson, according to Kuszczak, stopped his transfer to Leeds United on loan. Ferguson announced on February 3rd, 2012, that Kuszczak will be out of work in the summer and that he will not be signing a new deal with the club. Kuszczak joined Watford on a temporary loan until the end of the season on February 21. He said afterwards that he had joined Watford because he missed being involved on a matchday and wanted to participate in the Euro's in his home country this summer. During his loan period, he played 13 games, but he missed just one game against Middlesbrough on April 28 due to his wife's birth.

Kuszczak's release from Manchester United was announced on the club's website on June 1, 2012. Kuszczak retaliated that Ferguson's career was stifled after leaving Manchester United, arguing that inflated his asking price kept him out of contact with other clubs.

Kuszczak joined Brighton & Hove Albion on June 19, 2012, committing to a two-year deal. He said he turned down several other clubs to sign for the Seagulls and said, "I spent eight years in the Premier League, and that is where I want to be again." I think I will be able to join Brighton because the club is headed in only one direction, and I want to play my part in helping us get there." Kuszczak made a huge difference at the club, winning the Albion Player of the Month award in early 2013 after several match saving efforts. Kuszczak made 84 appearances for Brighton & Hove Albion before being released at the end of the 2013-14 season.

Kuszczak signed a short-term deal with Wolverhampton Wanderers on November 3, 2014, the longest since a trial with the Championship club. This deal was then extended until the end of the 2014–15 season. Kuszczak made his Championship debut for Wolves against Reading on February 7, 2015, conceding a goal after 20 seconds due to an injury.

Kuszczak signed a two-year deal with Birmingham City, another Championship team. Kuszczak saved Birmingham's 2–1 lead in the eighth minute of stoppage time in the season's opener, at home to Reading. He continued as the first-choice goalkeeper throughout the season and went 16-17 in post, but was forced to miss the warm-up against Birmingham on September 13. Adam Legzdins, Kuszczak's replacement, kept a clean sheet and held his position for the next seven games. Kuszczak was brought back to the team for the local derby against Aston Villa, and he kept the starting position for the remainder of the season as the team barely escaped relegation.

He has been in the running for another two years, but goalkeeper David Stockdale, who was in the starting lineup, has been in the first signing. Kuszczak expressed disappointment at being "dropped without a chance to recover" after a "solid performance" against Derby County in September as a replacement for the injured Stockdale. Despite a groin injury, he stayed at his job for two months before Stockdale regained fitness. Kuszczak was given time to recover from the injury, but Connal Trueman, an untried youth, remained on the bench until late in the game. During the January 2018 transfer window, Newcastle United and Derby County showed keen interest, but Redknapp's replacement, Steve Cotterill, insists that he would only leave Birmingham on Birmingham's terms. Kuszczak returned to the bench when Garry Monk replaced Cotterill in March, but did not play again, and the Polish media announced that he had been told he should not return to the bench until the end of the season. Neither he nor Stockdale were involved in the first team squad in 2018-1919, and Birmingham announced in May 2019 that he would leave the club at the end of his deal.

International career

Kuszczak's international debut came against Malta on December 11, 2003. Poland beat Poland 4–0 in the away game.

He was called up to the 23-man Poland national football team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup due to his outstanding performances for West Bromwich Albion. However, in a World Cup warm-up match between Poland and Colombia on May 30, 2006, he conceded a goal directly from Neco Martez, the opposition goalkeeper. Kuszczak later became Artur Boruc's back-up throughout the tournament and did not participate.

Kuszczak was selected in Poland's squad for UEFA Euro 2008, but after suffering a back injury and being replaced by Wojciech Kowalewski, he was forced to leave the squad. A lack of club football at Manchester United had him fall behind the pecking order for his country of late, but new coach Franciszek Smuda had him called into the squad for the friendly matches against Romania and Canada, with mixed results.

Kuszczak was recalled for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Moldova, filling in for injured first choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczczny, but he was still an unoccupied replacement. Kuszczak was called up by Fornalik in October for the friendly match against South Africa and the World Cup qualifier against England. He had been expected to start against South Africa, but Fornalik opted for Przemysaw Tyto after being outside the fold at PSV Eindhoven. The Poles won by a 1–0 victory in this game. If Tyto's ankle injury did not get worse, Kuszczak's only chance to play against England was unlikely, but it didn't. Kuszczak turned in at halftime in the international friendly against Uruguay on November 14th.

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