Michał Pazdan

Michał Pazdan
	Pazdan with Legia Warsaw in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Michał Pazdan
Date of birth	21 September 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth	Kraków, Poland
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Wieczysta Kraków
Number	2
Youth career
2002–2004	Hutnik Kraków
Senior career*
Years	Team
2004–2007	Hutnik Kraków
2007–2012	Górnik Zabrze
2012–2015	Jagiellonia Białystok
2015–2019	Legia Warsaw
2019–2021	Ankaragücü
2021–2023	Jagiellonia Białystok
2023–	Wieczysta Kraków
International career
2007–2019	Poland
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 June 2024

Michał Pazdan (Polish pronunciation: [ˈmixaw ˈpazdan] ^ⓘ, born 21 September 1987) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for II liga club Wieczysta Kraków, which he captains.

Club career

Pazdan began his football career at Hutnik Kraków. He gradually made his way up the ranks and became part of the first team squad in the 2003–04 season.

In 2007, Pazdan joined Górnik Zabrze and made his Ekstraklasa debut on 14 September 2007 with Jagiellonia Białystok against Polonia Bytom. During that season, he made 19 appearances for the club, 17 of those as a starter, with the team finishing in eighth place.

On 24 June 2015, Pazdan joined Legia Warsaw.^[3] He later signed a two-year contract with Ankaragücü on 29 January 2019.^[4]

International career

Pazdan earned 35 caps for the Poland national team, making his debut on 15 December 2007 in a 1–0 friendly victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[5] He was later included in the Polish squad for UEFA Euro 2008 but did not play in the tournament.^[6]^[7]

During Euro 2016, Pazdan became a national hero after the game against World Champions, Germany, where he was pronounced as Man of the match and led the team to a draw, which helped Poland to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time in history. His performances also led to reported interest from Premier League clubs.^[8] Poland beat Switzerland on penalties to qualify for the quarter-finals, but the defenders conceded their first goal of the tournament to Xherdan Shaqiri.^[9]

In June 2018, he was named in Poland's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.^[10]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 1 June 2024^[11]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Górnik Zabrze	2007–08	Ekstraklasa	19	0	0	0	—		9^[a]	0	28	0
	2008–09	Ekstraklasa	29	0	2	0	—		2^[a]	0	33	0
	2009–10	I liga	33	2	0	0	—		—		33	2
	2010–11	Ekstraklasa	17	0	0	0	—		—		17	0
	2011–12	Ekstraklasa	28	1	2	0	—		—		30	1
	Total		126	3	4	0	—		11	0	141	3
Jagiellonia Białystok	2012–13	Ekstraklasa	27	1	3	0	—		—		30	1
	2013–14	Ekstraklasa	32	0	5	0	—		—		37	0
	2014–15	Ekstraklasa	27	2	2	0	—		—		29	2
	Total		86	3	10	0	—		—		96	3
Legia Warsaw	2015–16	Ekstraklasa	24	0	4	0	10^[b]	0	1^[c]	0	39	0
	2016–17	Ekstraklasa	28	0	0	0	10^[d]	0	0	0	38	0
	2017–18	Ekstraklasa	29	0	3	0	5^[e]	0	1^[c]	0	38	0
	2018–19	Ekstraklasa	2	0	2	1	3^[f]	0	0	0	7	1
	Total		83	0	9	1	28	0	2	0	122	1
Ankaragücü	2018–19	Süper Lig	14	2	0	0	—		—		14	2
	2019–20	Süper Lig	31	0	0	0	—		—		31	0
	2020–21	Süper Lig	15	0	0	0	—		—		15	0
	Total		60	2	0	0	—		—		60	2
Jagiellonia Białystok	2021–22	Ekstraklasa	27	0	1	0	—		—		28	0
	2022–23	Ekstraklasa	14	1	1	0	—		—		15	1
	Total		41	1	2	0	—		—		43	1
Wieczysta Kraków	2023–24	III liga, gr. IV	26	2	0	0	—		—		26	2
Career total			422	11	25	1	28	0	13	0	488	12

^ ^a ^b Appearances in Ekstraklasa Cup
^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
^ ^a ^b Appearance in Polish Super Cup
^ Eight appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
^ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League