During his time at the Wuhle, Rafal Gikiewicz was always available for a casual saying. The opinionated Pole polarized and was remembered by fans, teammates and bosses not only because of his saves. Now the goalkeeper speaks up again and once again has an exclusive view of things. Augsburg better than 1. FC Union: ex-keeper Gikiewicz teases against the iron!
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Only Gikiewicz himself will know whether it was frustration that spoke out of him. The World Cup sting but apparently deep. Because it seems to be dawning on the now 35-year-old keeper that his greatest sporting dream will no longer come true: to play for the Polish national team one day.
World Cup frustration with Rafal Gikiewicz runs deep
“That was my biggest dream, which I really wanted to achieve. You should have given me just one minute,” Gikiewicz explained in an interview with Spox and Goal. That’s what national coach Czeslaw Michniewicz “said exactly” before the World Cup in Qatar – with the promise not to “annoy the national team” anymore afterwards.
The goalkeeper had already begged for a game beforehand: “One minute against San Marino or Belarus is enough for me. I just want to play once, I want to make this dream come true. I want to show my kids what hard work can do.”
Rafal Gikiewicz lets fans and players spit poison and bile
Imago/Team 2
When things get heated, Rafal Gikiewicz is usually right in the middle: After the game at Schalke, the Pole clashed with ex-Unioner Sebastian Polter.
Gikiewiczs Problem: Strong competition. Gikiewicz: “I’ll only be nominated if either Lukasz Skorupski or Wojciech Szczesny is injured or is too bad.” As we know, that wasn’t the case. Gikiewicz was only left with the role of TV expert at the World Cup and had to watch his compatriots lose 3-1 to France in the round of 16.
Despite the big disappointment, Gikiewicz wants to continue playing for at least six more years. Then he would be 41 years old – even for a keeper a very old age. But you can see in the Bundesliga, match day after match, that he is still passionate about every game. Sometimes in Bremen, sometimes at Schalke against ex-Union colleague Sebastian Polter. Gikiewicz regularly makes fans and players spit poison and bile.
“Disrespectful”: Rafal Gikiewicz teases against 1. FC Union
They also know that at FC Augsburg, where Gikiewicz, like at 1. FC Union, is not without controversy despite strong performances. If there was already a strong smell of separation in the summer, Gikiewicz was allowed to play again under the new coach Enrico Maaßen (38). Gikiewicz: “If Enrico hadn’t come, my time in Augsburg might have been over. I have more joy again. We’ve achieved our goals for the last two years, but haven’t played attractive football.”
Despite the disappointment, Gikiewicz defended his surprising move to Augsburg and taunted 1. FC Union, for whom he played from 2018 to 2020 and celebrated promotion to the Bundesliga: “I found it disrespectful that you (1. FC Union, note d. editor) only offered me a one-year contract. I’m sure that FCA, as a club that has been playing in the Bundesliga for twelve years, is more stable than Union, even if my previous two and a half years haven’t been as successful as I had imagined.”
However, the reality is different: Union is on course for the third year in a row in Europe and will continue to dance at three weddings in 2023. Augsburg, on the other hand, is once again in a relegation battle with Gikiewicz.
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