started to explain to me that maybe
it would be better for his son to
concentrate on running,” recalls Siwecki.
“I could not believe it. I angrily asked
him: ‘What do you want to do?’ We had
a long and very rough conversation,
but finally I fortunately convinced
him! Football remained the main
aim for Robert.”
Looking back, Siwecki had no doubts
that Lewandowski would not have madeit as a professional player without the
help of his parents.
“His father was a judo player and his
mother a volleyball player. They knew
sport and understood it well. When
they watched Robert’s games, they
never shouted at him anything like
other parents normally do.”
In 2005, Krzysztof unexpectedly
passed away.
It was a defining moment in Robert’s
young life, but it made him more
motivated than ever. He began to travel
to training by himself – a two-hour
journey each way by public transport.
Shortly after his father’s death,
Lewandowski ended his seven-year
stay at Varsovia to join fourth division
side Delta Warsaw. He didn’t stay long,
moving on to Legia Warsaw’s reserve
side, but after a season they released
him over doubts about an injury. The
coach that had signed him,Jerzy
Kraska, knew even then that the
club had made a big mistake.
“Now I am so proud that I brought
Lewandowski to my team,” he says.
“When they sacked me, they did not
ask about him. Somebody higher than
me in the club structure made thedecision, but I know that Robert
dreamed to play for Legia.”
Was it clear, even then, that Legia had
let Poland’s greatest ever goalscorer slip
through their fingers?
“To be honest, I did not expect he
would be such a great player some day,”
admits Kraska. “But he was among the
team’s better players and a ball always
found him on the pitch. He could score
with a header, right or left foot”.
After Lewandowski was released,
Marek Krzywicki, another of his former
coaches at Varsovia, stepped in: “Legia
did not want him any longer. Nobody
from the club even tried to talk with
him; the office secretary announced the
decision. He was totally broken down, soeyewitness
Remembered...Lewandowski’s original
shirt still hangs on the walls at VarsoviaPotato field...Varsovia’s ground has had a
makeover since Lewandowski played here
“Reasons to train at
Varsovia...Robert
Lewandowski
was our pupil”