Michał Żewłakow

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Michał Żewłakow (pron. IPA: [ˈmixaw ʐɛvˈwakɔf], born April 22, 1976), is a Polish footballer solid left-sided defender who plays for the Poland national football team and is currently on the books of Olympiacos and is a constant danger when pushing forward and poses a threat with his powerful free-kicks.

Born in Warsaw in April 1976, Żewłakow spent eight years with KP Polonia Warszawa and broke into the first team in 1996/97. He was loaned to Belgium's KSK Beveren in October 1998 before signing - together with his twin brother Marcin - for R. Excelsior Mouscron for a combined fee of €485,000. Michal Żewłakow went on to become a key player, helping the club reach the 2002 Belgian Cup final. After following coach Hugo Broos to RSC Anderlecht, in his second season he made his UEFA Champions League debut as Anderlecht wrested back the Belgian title from Club Brugge KV. The next season he lost his place but regained it in 2005/06 as Anderlecht won the league again. In the summer he joined Olympiacos CFP on a free transfer.

Żewłakow has already endeared himself to the Olympiacos fans with his committed performances and whole-hearted celebrations.

Poland's first-choice left-back during qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Żewłakow was the only player to appear in all ten of his country's qualifying matches. He played in two games at Korea/Japan and was a regular in qualifying for UEFA EURO 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, where he again appeared three times in the finals in Germany.

Michał Żewłakow has a twin brother, Marcin, who plays for APOEL FC as a striker. The strikingly handsome twins became the first twins ever to play together for Poland when they were picked in the starting lineup to face France in February 2000.

[edit] External links

• Player profile on 90minut.pl (Polish)
• National team stats on pzpn.pl (Polish)

v • d • e Poland squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Dudek • 2 Kłos • 3 Zieliński • 4 Michał Żewłakow • 5 Rząsa • 6 Hajto • 7 Świerczewski • 8 Kucharski • 9 Kryszałowicz • 10 Kałużny • 11 Olisadebe • 12 Majdan • 13 Głowacki • 14 Marcin Żewłakow • 15 Wałdoch • 16 Murawski • 17 A. Bąk • 18 Krzynówek • 19 Żurawski • 20 J. Bąk • 21 Koźmiński • 22 Matysek • 23 Sibik • Coach: Engel

v • d • e Poland squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Boruc • 2 Jop • 3 Gancarczyk • 4 Baszczyński • 5 Kosowski • 6 Bąk • 7 Sobolewski • 8 Krzynówek • 9 Żurawski • 10 Szymkowiak • 11 Rasiak • 12 Kuszczak • 13 Mila • 14 Żewłakow • 15 Smolarek • 16 Radomski • 17 Dudka • 18 Lewandowski • 19 Bosacki • 20 Giza • 21 Jeleń • 22 Fabiański • 23 Brożek • Coach: Janas

v • d • e Poland squad - UEFA Euro 2008 1 Boruc • 2 Jop • 3 Wawrzyniak • 4 Golański • 5 Dudka • 6 Bąk • 7 Smolarek • 8 Krzynówek • 9 Żurawski • 10 Garguła • 11 Saganowski • 12 Kowalewski • 13 Wasilewski • 14 Żewłakow • 15 Pazdan • 16 Piszczek • 17 Łobodziński • 18 Lewandowski • 19 Murawski • 20 Guerreiro • 21 Zahorski • 22 Fabiański • 23 Kokoszka • Coach: Beenhakker