Quick Facts
Biography
Mirosław Szymkowiak ([miˈrɔswaf ʂɨmˈkɔvʲak]) (born 12 November 1976) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a playmaker. Szymkowiak is also a former member of the Poland national football team.
Career
Born in Poznań, Poland, Szymkowiak first started playing at Olimpia Poznań, where he played from 1992 until 1994, when he joined Widzew Łódź. He remained there for five and a half years, when he left to join Wisła Kraków in the middle of the 2000–01 season. He helped them to win the championship in his first season, and to two further championships in 2003 and 2004. In January 2005, he joined the Turkish club Trabzonspor. In his first six months at Trabzonspor he scored nine goals in fifteen starts.
As well as playing for Trabzonspor, Szymkowiak appeared 31 times and scored three goals for Poland. He was selected to the 23-men squad that competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. A lot of fans from different clubs likes him because he was not arrogant.
In 2007, he announced that he retired from football. Szymkowiak finished his career due to health reasons. In an interview for a Polish website he said: "I'm just turning 31, and already I've gone through 8 surgeries! I've got 4 screws in both my knees, one in my ankle. They (doctors) removed one I had in the shoulder, but I also have two titanium nets in my groins. I feel older than my dad, and in a couple of years time I'd like to walk like a normal person." Later, in an interview for Polish newspaper "Super Express", he stated that his withdrawal was mainly attributed to his drug use: he used rofecoxib for his pain problems (related to his injuries), but it was found to cause serious blood and bone marrow problems, resulting in lowering his performance and stamina.
Post-playing career
Szymkowiak works as a pitch reporter for Canal+ Poland. His debut as a reporter was an Ekstraklasa game between GKS Bełchatów and Zagłębie Lubin on 5 April 2007. He also owns two beauty salons in Kraków.