Władysław Żmuda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Olympic medal record
Competitor for Flag of Poland Poland
Men's Football
Silver Montreal 1976 Team Competition

Władysław Antoni Żmuda (born June 6, 1954 in Lublin) is a retired Polish football defender, who played for clubs such as Śląsk Wrocław, Widzew Łódź, Hellas Verona, New York Cosmos and US Cremonese

[edit] Club

He spent six years patiently learning his trade with his first club Motor Lublin before finally spreading his wings in 1973 and switching to Gwardia Warsaw, the Polish capital’s second club. The 19-year-old Zmuda was instrumental in Gwardia's UEFA Cup campaign of 1973/74 where they narrowly lost out to eventual winners Feyenoord. Zmuda the pursued his career in Poland with Slask Wroclaw and later Widzew Lodz before Italian club Hellas Verona secured permission to sign him from Poland in 1982. After two injury-plagued seasons at Verona, Zmuda spent a brief spell with New York Cosmos before returning to Italy with US Cremonese, playing two of his three seasons with the club in Serie B. Zmuda ended his playing career in 1988.

1971-1973 Motor Lublin 1973-1975 Gwardia Warsaw 1975-1979 Slask Wroclaw 1979-1982 Widzew Łódź 1982-1984 Hellas Verona 1984-1985 New York Cosmos 1985-1988 US Cremonese

[edit] National team

He played for Polish national team, for which he earned 91 caps and scored 2 goals.

Żmuda was a participant at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where Poland won the third place and he was named as Best Young Player of the tournament; 1978 FIFA World Cup; 1982 FIFA World Cup, where Poland won the third place again and 1986 FIFA World Cup.

He played a total of 21 matches at the World Cup finals, which (tied with Uwe Seeler and Diego Maradona) is the third most appearances ever, behind only Lothar Matthaus and Paolo Maldini. His four tournaments, in 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986, place him second in the all-time rankings behind Antonio Carbajal and Lothar Matthaus and level with such legendary names as Pele, Diego Maradona and Gianni Rivera.

He was also a participant at 1976 Summer Olympics, where Poland won the silver medal.