Paweł Łukasz Brożek (; born 21 April 1983) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Brożek represented various youth squads for Poland before making his debut for the senior team in 2005. He earned 38 caps, and competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012.
Club career Early career Paweł Brożek was born in Kielce. In 1992, he began his career at Polonia Białogon Kielce, together with his twin brother Piotr. In 1998, he moved to Zabrze to play for SMS Zabrze. A half-a-year later, he joined Wisła Kraków, together with his brother.
Wisła Kraków Brożek made his debut for Wisła Kraków in Ekstraklasa on 8 April 2001 in a match against Górnik Zabrze. On 21 April 2001, he scored his first goal in the Ekstraklasa in a match against Odra Wodzisław. In May 2001, Brożek signed a new 10-year contract with Wisła. He won the Ekstraklasa championship in 2000–01 season with Wisła Kraków. In 2002, he was loaned to ŁKS Łódź to play in the II liga. A half year later, he returned to Wisła Kraków and won with his second club Ekstraklasa title, in 2002–03 season. In 2004, he was loaned to GKS Katowice for a year and a half. He was a stand out player at GKS Katowice. In December 2004, he was invited for a trial together with his twin brother Piotr by West Ham United.
In January 2005, Brożek returned to Wisła Kraków, because the then Wisła manager Werner Lička wanted him to come back from loan. Brożek won the Ekstraklasa title in the 2004–05 season with Wisła Kraków. In the 2005–06 season, he began to play regularly for the Wisła Kraków first squad. Subsequently, he scored 13 goals in 30 matches. In 2006–07 season Brożek played very well in UEFA Cup, where he scored 4 goals in group stage matches against AS Nancy, FC Basel and Feyenoord Rotterdam. In the 2007–08 season, Brożek scored 23 goals in 27 matches and led Wisła Kraków to achieve the Ekstraklasa title. He was the league top scorer in the 2007–08 season. In the 2008–09 season, he won his sixth Ekstraklasa title with Wisła and was the Ekstraklasa top goal scorer for the second time in a row. In the following 2009–10 season, Brożek led his team in goals and assists while Wisła finished second in the league.
Trabzonspor In January 2011, Brożek joined Turkish Süper Lig side Trabzonspor on a -year deal for an undisclosed fee from Wisła Kraków, along with his brother. Brożek made his debut for Trabzonspor in a Turkish Cup match against Beşiktaş on 26 January 2011, assisting Alanzinho's goal with a back-heel pass. In the 2010–11 Süper Lig season, he contributed with two goals and two assists for the eventual runners-up. In the following campaign, Brożek could not establish himself in the Trabzonspor starting line-up, blocked by Turkish international Burak Yılmaz, who played as the sole striker in the system preferred by coach Şenol Güneş.
Loan to Celtic On 29 January 2012, Brożek agreed terms to join Scottish Premier League outfit Celtic on loan from Trabzonspor until the end of the season, subject to a medical. The following day, he signed a contract with Celtic after passing the medical exams. He was given the number 17 shirt. On 8 February 2012, he made his debut in the 4–0 win over Heart of Midlothian in a Scottish Premier League match, coming on as a second-half substitute for Scott Brown. He made three appearances in total for the eventual league champions, failing to score in any of them. At the end of his loan spell at Celtic, Brożek criticised Neil Lennon, stating that the Celtic manager "...promised me something and then another thing happened afterwards. I did not get many opportunities from him and I was left dry of games."
Recreativo de Huelva In August 2012, Brożek joined Spanish second-tier club Recreativo de Huelva. Brożek did not play regularly and the team were nowhere near achieving promotion, eventually finishing in thirteenth place with Brożek scoring only twice in 18 league appearances. In June 2013, it was reported Brożek was leaving Recreativo.
Wisła Kraków On 23 July 2013, it was reported that Brożek was undergoing medical tests with Wisła Kraków with a view to rejoining his previous club. Contract negotiations involved the player agreeing to lower his wages, but receive increased bonuses for wins and goals. A week later, Brożek's signing was confirmed.
On 3 May 2014, he scored a hat-trick against Pogoń Szczecin and also his 100th goal in Ekstraklasa, it took 227 appearances to achieve that.
Brożek retired from playing after the 2019–20 season.
International career
In 1999, he played at the FIFA U-17 World Championship tournament. In 2000 Brożek played at the UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship tournament. With Poland national under-17 football team Brożek won Vaclav Jezek Tournament in 2000 and was Top Goalscorer of the tournament with 6 goals. In 2001, he won UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship with Poland national under-18 football team. He played in first squad in all matches at the tournament. He was the youngest member of the team. All other under-18 team members were born in 1982, while Brożek was born in 1983. He showed a great performance in UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2004–2006 qualifying round where he scored 9 goals in 8 matches.
Brożek made his first appearance for the Poland national team against Mexico in 2005, scoring in the process. He was selected to the 23-man national squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals held in Germany, where, coming on as a substitute, he nearly scored a goal against Ecuador in their 2–0 defeat, with a left foot shot that hit the post.
In May 2012, he was called up to the 23-man Poland national football team for UEFA Euro 2012. At the tournament, Brożek played in two group stage matches. Although he has not retired from international football, he has not appeared for the side since 2014.
Personal life His twin brother, Piotr, is also a former footballer.
Career statistics
Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsWisła Kraków1999–2000Ekstraklasa0000—30302000–01Ekstraklasa81000010912001–02Ekstraklasa30310000612002–03Ekstraklasa503211—932003–04Ekstraklasa820020—1022004–05Ekstraklasa9052—001422005–06Ekstraklasa30134241—38162006–07Ekstraklasa23721646337152007–08Ekstraklasa272363—2035262008–09Ekstraklasa271932630036242009–10Ekstraklasa251030201031102010–11Ekstraklasa1361143—1810Total1788130142512133246110ŁKS Łódź (loan)2001–02I liga80———80GKS Katowice (loan)2003–04Ekstraklasa8320——1032004–05Ekstraklasa12241——163Total20561——266Trabzonspor2010–11Süper Lig12210——1322011–12Süper Lig710040—111Total1931040—243Celtic2011–12Scottish Premier League3000——30Recreativo Huelva2012–13Segunda División18210——192Wisła Kraków2013–14Ekstraklasa331721——35182014–15Ekstraklasa351500——35152015–16Ekstraklasa291410——30142016–17Ekstraklasa31621——3372017–18Ekstraklasa17120——1912018–19Ekstraklasa14210——1522019–20Ekstraklasa19800——198Total1786382——18665Career total42415446172912133512186
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsPoland200521200650200720200851200961201032201193201240201310201411Total389
Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Brożek goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Paweł Brożek No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 27 April 2005 Soldier Field, Chicago, United States Friendly 2 11 October 2008 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 3 7 February 2009 Complexo Desportivo, Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal Friendly 4 10 December 2010 Mardan Sports Complex Antalya, Turkey 2–2 Friendly 5 6 5 June 2011 Pepsi Arena, Warsaw, Poland Friendly 7 2 September 2011 Pepsi Arena, Warsaw, Poland Friendly 8 15 November 2011 Poznań Stadium, Poznań, Poland Friendly 9 20 January 2014 Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Friendly
Honours Wisła Kraków U19 Polish U-19 Championship: 2000
Wisła Kraków Ekstraklasa: 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11 Polish Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03 Polish League Cup: 2000–01 Polish Super Cup: 2001
Celtic Scottish Premier League: 2011–12
Poland U18 UEFA European Under-18 Championship: 2001
Individual Ekstraklasa top scorer: 2007–08, 2008–09 Ekstraklasa Player of the Year: 2008 Ekstraklasa Player of the Season: 2008–09 Ekstraklasa Player of the Month: September 2019 Ekstraklasa Hall of Fame: 2023
References
External links
National team stats on the website of the Polish Football Association