Kazimierz Deyna

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Image:Olympic-rings.png
Gold medal	1972 Munich	Football Men's Team Competition
Silver medal	1976 Montréal	Football Men's Team Competition

Kazimierz Deyna (born October 23, 1947 in Starogard Gdański – died September 1, 1989 in San Diego, California) was a Polish football player, one of the best shooters in the history of Polish sports.

In 1958 he started playing in the youth club of the local Włókniarz Starogard Gdański Football Club. In 1966 he briefly appeared in ŁKS Łódź, but his career started when he was transferred to Legia Warszawa.

Image:Kazimierz Deyna.jpg

In 1969 and 1970 his team won the Championship of Poland. On April 24, 1968, he also played for the national team of Poland for the first time (in a match against Turkey in Chorzów. Together with his team he won the gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and the bronze in Football World Cup 1974, after a match against Brazil. In 1972 he was also the Top Goalscorer of the Olympic Games, with a total of 9 goals. In 1976 Summer Olympics his team yet again reached the finals and won the silver medal.

In his career he played for the polish national team 102 times scoring 45 goals, often as the team captain. He could shoot goals from most unusual positions (e.g. corner). Thanks to his skills, he was chosen several times the Football Player of the Year by Polish fans. In 1978 he was the captain of the Polish team at the Football World Cup in Argentina, where his team reached the second phase. Soon afterwards he was transferred to Manchester City. In 1981 he emigrated to the USA, where he played in San Diego Sockers and later in the Legends San Diego. He died in a car accident while driving his favourite BMW on September 1, 1989, in San Diego, California.

In 1994 he was chosen by the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and the readers of all Polish sports-related newspapers as the Polish Football Player of All Time.

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