Józef Kałuża
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Jozef Kaluza, Polish soccer player, later a coach, one of legends of Polish sports. Born on February 11, 1896, died on October 11, 1944 in Kraków.
Kaluza was one of the best forward players of 1920s Poland. His whole career was connected with Cracovia Kraków - with this team in 1921 he won the first, historic Championships of Poland. Altogether, he played 408 games in Cracovia’s jersey, scoring 465 goals. Also, in the years 1921-1931 Kaluza represented Poland in various international games, scoring 8 goals.
In 1932, after retirement from playing, he became a trainer/manager of Polish National Team. Directed by him, Poland slowly begun to achieve successes on international scale. In 1936, during Berlin's Olympic Games, white-red were placed on the 4th position (some claim that had Ernest Wilimowski gone to Berlin, the Poles would have won gold). Two years later, during the FIFA World Cup 1938, Poland, after a fierce battle, lost to Brazil 5-6. This legendary game is to this day not only regarded as one of the best in history of Polish soccer, but also as one of the best in whole World Cup history.
Kaluza’s last game as a coach took place on Sunday, August 27, 1939 in Warsaw. Poland, after a very good game, beat 4-2 then vice-champions of the world, Hungary. It was the last game of interwar Poland - on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded and World War II started.
During the war, Kaluza as one of few officials of Polish Football Federation (PZPN), remained in the homeland, where he died in 1944. In 1946, to commemorate him, PZPN begun organizing Jozef Kaluza’s Cup, but after a few years this idea was given up. Cracovia Kraków’s stadium is located on Kaluza’s street.
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