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Jan
Tomaszewski
(Poland)
When
talk comes to great goalkeepers of the past, Jan
Tomaszewski of Poland very often seems to be
mentioned. His heroic match at Wembley made him famous
world wide. Jan and his teammates knocked out England
in the qualification and secured a place in the 1974
World Cup. The Wembley match was no fluke. Jan
impressed in West Germany as well. Poland secured
bronzemedals in their first World Cup appearance since
1938, beating countries like Argentina, Italy and
Brazil on their way.
Tomaszewski made history
as being the first goalkeeper to save two penalties in
a World Cup when he shut out attempts from Sweden’s
Tapper and West Germany’s Hoeness during the 1974
World Cup. Poland did not allow players to move abroad
until the age of 30 at that time, so Jan continued to
play in the Polish league with LKS Lodz after the
finals even though he was more than good enough to
sign for top clubs on the continent.
He helped Poland win
silvermedals in the 1976 Olympics and two years later
Poland qualified for the World Cup once again. Poland
won their first round group which contained defending
champions West Germany and looked good enough to go
far again, but host country Argentina with Kempes won
2-0 in a decisive second phase match. In his two World
Cups, Tomaszewski managed to keep a clean sheet in
five of the eleven matches he played. Jan moved abroad
after the 1978 World Cup to play for Beerschot in
Belgium and later Hercules in Spain before he retired
in 1982.
Today he is often seen
as commentator on TV or as soccer journalist in
newspapers.
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