Unlike many of his colleagues, Wojciech Szczesny is not exactly extroverted, but now the Pole has provided some remarkable insights, talking about trauma, why he played for Barca almost for free, why Robert Lewandowski annoys him, and the metal rods he has had in his arms for 17 years.
Wojciech Szczesny has been part of top-level European soccer for years: Arsenal, AS Roma, Juventus Turin, and currently FC Barcelona—the 35-year-old’s career is impressive. There is no doubt that he is a good goalkeeper, yet he has repeatedly been underestimated and, despite consistent performances, has never been considered a star. That probably hasn’t changed to this day. At FC Barcelona, the Pole has now been relegated to second place, behind Joan Garcia. When Marc-André ter Stegen returns from injury, he could even be demoted to number 3. Szczesny should be able to live with that, as he has already fulfilled one of his dreams.
In an interview with Polish GQ, he first spoke about his complicated relationship with his father Maciej, who, like his son, was the Polish national goalkeeper. “As a child, I was afraid of my father,” said the Barca keeper, revealing that his father “repeatedly humiliated me in public in front of complete strangers. I asked myself, ‘Dad, why are you doing this?’, but I also learned to hide my emotions and swallow everything.” This shaped him and also had an impact on his career, because “when you’re a goalkeeper, everyone thinks you’re cool, confident, and fearless—and I learned to be calm at a very young age. Maybe that’s why it was so important to me never to ‘freak out,’ so I wouldn’t be that little boy who blushes in front of strangers again.”
Barcelona more important than money
In terms of his career, Wojciech has long since eclipsed his old man, but he never wanted to compete with him anyway, the 35-year-old emphasized, revealing that before his move to FC Barcelona, he had actually planned to hang up his gloves, which he had already made official. “It’s not that I had lost my passion for soccer, but there were no offers that excited me. I didn’t want to play just for the money. Three days before I announced my retirement, I even told Lewa that I only wanted to play for one club—Barcelona. When they called me, they probably knew they could convince me.”
Just how much he wanted to play for the Blaugrana is shown by the fact that he did so in his first year with almost no salary. “In my first season in Barcelona, I played for free. What I got from Barça was exactly what I had to pay Juventus for the early termination of my contract. I didn’t earn a single euro more.“ But Barcelona made it possible for him ”not to retire with bitterness, but to be part of a big club once again. That was worth more to me than money at the time.”
Teasing from Lewandowski
In Spain, he also plays with his compatriot Lewandowski, whom he knows very well from their time together on the national team—and who usually teases him for a specific reason. “I love to eat. Although I manage to stay within the weight limit, I broke Barcelona’s record for body fat percentage. I thought it was funny,“ admitted the veteran, saying that he could live with it if ”the worst thing about my professionalism is that I love food.“
Lewandowski is even said to have asked once how Szczesny could ”have such a career with a body like that.” “Of course, I had no peace once Lewa heard about my body fat percentage,” revealed the keeper, explaining: “He’s a fanatic when it comes to nutrition and training; he lives like a robot. Whenever we enter the national team’s dressing room, the first thing he does is scrutinize me from head to toe and criticize me in some way.” Nevertheless, it was important to him to emphasize that he had managed to “maintain a high level throughout my 17-year professional career.”