“Who was better, David Janczyk or Robert Lewandowski?… David Janczyk“, thus begins one of the stories that impact sport, those that detail the lives of athletes who were considered future stars, but who, due to some vices, ended up giving their place to those who came behind fulfilling the task.
A few days before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, David Janczyk, also known as ‘the other Lewandowski’told how his career went to the precipice, after being the great promise of Poland, a team that will share Group C of the World Cup with Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Argentina.
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Robert Lewandowski: the story of his rival, who ended up taking refuge in alcohol
In dialogue with ‘The day after’, by Movistar Plus+, Janczyk revealed how he went from playing football on the best pitches and earning a million euros, to working in a vegetable garden and receiving 500 euros a month. For many, he was better than Lewandowski, the FC Barcelona star who will guide Poland to the World Cup.
“I have been the best footballer in the world, but I lost everything in my life. When I was 15 I tried out for Chelsea. I spoke with Mourinho, but Pope John Paul II just died and I needed to go back to Poland,” said Janczyk, who returned to his country and signed for Legia Warsaw.
While at home, Janczyk shared a squad with Robert Lewandowski, a young striker who became his competition and ended up leaving the team.
“At that time, I think I was better. The president loved me. Lewandowski stopped playing, they dropped him to the second team. They didn’t have him at Legia,” he said.
Janczyk said that his goalscoring record and his time in the Polish youth teams aroused the interest of clubs such as Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Betis and again Chelsea, but that, for financial reasons, the club sold him to CSKA Moscow. Since then, his life took a turn and he fell into one of the worst vices: alcohol.
“I am very angry about this decision, my life could have been different… I was leaving training and the first thing I thought of was going to buy liquor. He would go home and start drinking. I was drinking whiskey and vodka, a liter every day,” he stated.
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Janczyk had the opportunity to rebuild his career in Belgium, where he was considered one of the best players along with Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne; however, the ghost of the liquor reappeared and he took over the life of him.
“I was in the hospital and died 5 times in one night. I was hospitalized for 10 days and when I left the first thing I did was go buy alcohol… I have no money, I have no wife. It’s hard when my daughter asks me when I’m coming home,” Janczyk said through tears.
Since then, the career of that promising striker was spoiled. Now, from his role as a fan, he hopes that Poland stands out in the World Cup, above all, because it has Robert Lewandowski, his old rival and whom he considers “the best player in the world”.
See here the complete story of David Janczyk, the ‘other Lewandowski’:
Dawid Janczyk, el otro Lewandowski. #The day after pic.twitter.com/2SE7ZyRCn0
— The Day After on Movistar Plus+ (@ElDiaDespues) October 18, 2022
