Zbigniew Boniek (; born 3 March 1956) is a Polish former footballer and was most recently a UEFA vice-president. A former midfielder, who was also capable of playing mostly as a right winger and second striker, he is considered one of the greatest Polish players of all time, and was selected by Pelé as one of the 100 best living footballers in 2004.
In the early 1990s, Boniek managed several Italian clubs, and also the Poland national team in 2002. In 2019, he was inducted in the Italian Football Hall of Fame.
Club career
Boniek was born in Bydgoszcz. He first played for Polish clubs Zawisza Bydgoszcz and later at Widzew Łódź.
Boniek transferred to Italian football giants Juventus in 1982. With Juventus he won the Coppa Italia in his first season, also managing a second-place finish in the league and reaching the 1983 European Cup Final in the same season. The following season, his performances proved decisive, as Juventus won both the Serie A title and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1984, with Boniek scoring the matching-winning goal in the 2–1 victory over Porto in the final of the latter tournament in Basel; he followed up these victories by claiming the European Super Cup later that year, scoring twice in the 2–0 win against Liverpool. He also won the European Cup in 1985, against Liverpool once again, winning the penalty that Michel Platini subsequently converted to win the title for Juventus, although the team's victory was overshadowed by the Heysel Disaster.
The following season, Boniek joined Roma, where he won a second Coppa Italia in 1986, and eventually ended his professional career with the club in 1988. but was forced to miss the semi-final defeat to eventual champions Italy due to a suspension after being booked in the 88th minute of a 0–0 draw against the Soviet Union.
The Juventus president at the time of Boniek's tenure with the club, Gianni Agnelli, nicknamed him Bello di notte ("Beauty at night", which is a play on the title of the Buñuel movie Belle de Jour) because of his excellent performances in European club tournament matches, which were played in the evening; indeed, during continental tournaments, his opponents usually allowed him more space and time on the ball than in Serie A, which allowed him to get forward, undertake individual dribbling runs and score goals himself, or drop deep, link up with midfielders and create chances or provide assists for his teammates, courtesy of his passing, vision, and clever movement. He was also nicknamed Zibì by the Italian press.
In 2004, Boniek was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers, as part of FIFA's centenary celebrations.
On 26 October 2012, he became the chairman of the Polish Football Association. He is popular for speaking in favour of decriminalising football fans by legalising pyrotechnics inside stadiums, a common practice among ultras. His term of office ended on 18 August 2021, and he was succeeded by Cezary Kulesza.
Personal life
Boniek has a university diploma in education. In 1976, he married his wife Wiesława, a specialist in Romance studies, with whom he has three children: two daughters Karolina and Kamila and son Tomasz.
Legacy
Honduran international footballer Óscar Boniek García was given the middle name Boniek in honour of Zbigniew Boniek. García chose to have the name "Boniek" written across the back of his jersey while playing for Houston.
Boniek Forbes (born 30 September 1983) is a Guinea-Bissau footballer who plays as a winger for Cheshunt. He played for Leyton Orient in the Football League.
In 2018, Boniek became an honorary citizen of Łódź. In 2019, he was named the most influential person in Polish sport by the Forbes Polska magazine and Pentagon Research. The same year, he was voted as a member of Poland's Team of the Century in a poll organized on the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Polish Football Association.
In 2020, Boniek's biography entitled Zibi, czyli Boniek written by Roman Kołtoń was published. The footballer himself also published his autobiography the same year entitled Zbigniew Boniek. Mecze mojego życia (Zbigniew Boniek: The Matches of My Life).
Career statistics
Club
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|Cup
!colspan="2"|Continental
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division
!width="40"|Apps
!width="40"|Goals
!width="40"|Apps
!width="40"|Goals
!width="40"|Apps
!width="40"|Goals
!width="40"|Apps
!width="40"|Goals
|-
|rowspan="8"|Widzew Łódź
|1975–76
|rowspan="7"|Ekstraklasa
||27||7||0||0||0||0||27||7
|-
|1976–77
||24||9||1||0||0||0||25||9
|-
|1977–78
||30||11||2||1|||4||3||36||15
|-
|1978–79
||28||4||1||1||0||0||29||5
|-
|1979–80
||26||10||2||1||2||1||30||12
|-
|1980–81
||11||1||0||0|||5||0||16||1
|-
|1981–82
||26||8|||3||2||2||0||31||10
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!172!!50!!9!!5!!13!!4!!194!!59
|-
|rowspan="4"|Juventus
|1982–83
|rowspan="3"|Serie A
||28||5||12||3||9||2||49||10
|-
|1983–84
||27||3||6||2||9||4||42||9
|-
|1984–85
||26||6||6||3||10||3||42||12
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!81!!14!!24!!8!!28!!9!!133!!31
|-
|rowspan="4"|Roma
|1985–86
|rowspan="3"|Serie A
||29||7||5||1||0||0||34||8
|-
|1986–87
||26||4||6||4||2||0||34||8
|-
|1987–88
||21||6||3||1||0||0||24||7
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!76!!17!!14!!6!!2!!0!!92!!23
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!329!!81!!47!!19!!43!!13!!419!!113
|}
International
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="13"|Poland
|1976||6||2
|-
|1977||11||1
|-
|1978||12||5
|-
|1979||10||3
|-
|1980||5||2
|-
|1981||6||3
|-
|1982||8||4
|-
|1983||3||1
|-
|1984||6||1
|-
|1985||5||2
|-
|1986||7||0
|-
|1987||0||0
|-
|1988||1||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!80!!24
|}
thumb|310px|’’Boniek Star’’, [[Władysławowo, Poland]]
International goals
:Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Boniek goal.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Zbigniew Boniek
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| align="center"|1 || 11 May 1976 || Basel, Switzerland || || align="center"|1–2 || align="center"|1–2 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|2 || 31 October 1976 || Warsaw, Poland || || align="center"|3–0 || align="center"|5–0 || 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| align="center"|3 || 19 June 1977 || São Paulo, Brazil || || align="center"|1–3 || align="center"|1–3 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|4 || 5 April 1978 || Poznań, Poland || || align="center"|5–0 || align="center"|5–2 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|5 || 12 April 1978 || Łódź, Poland || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|3–0 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|6 || rowspan="2"|10 June 1978 || rowspan="2"|Rosario, Argentina || rowspan="2"| || align="center"|1–0 || rowspan="2" align="center"|3–1 || rowspan="2"|1978 FIFA World Cup
|-
| align="center"|7 || align="center"|3–1
|-
| align="center"|8 || 15 November 1978 || Wrocław, Poland || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|2–0 || UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
|-
| align="center"|9 || 18 April 1979 || Leipzig, East Germany || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|1–2 || UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
|-
| align="center"|10 || 2 May 1979 || Chorzów, Poland || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|2–0 || UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
|-
| align="center"|11 || 29 August 1979 || Warsaw, Poland || || align="center"|3–0 || align="center"|3–0 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|12 || 13 May 1980 || Frankfurt, West Germany || || align="center"|1–1 || align="center"|1–3 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|13 || 28 May 1980 || Poznań, Poland || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|1–0 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|14 || 28 October 1981 || Buenos Aires, Argentina || || align="center"|2–1 || align="center"|2–1 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|15 || 15 November 1981 || Wrocław, Poland || || align="center"|6–0 || align="center"|6–0 || 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| align="center"|16 || 18 November 1981 || Łódź, Poland || || align="center"|2–1 || align="center"|2–3 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|17 || 22 June 1982 || A Coruña, Spain || || align="center"|3–0 || align="center"|5–1 || 1982 FIFA World Cup
|-
| align="center"|18 || rowspan="3"|28 June 1982 || rowspan="3"|Barcelona, Spain || rowspan="3"| || align="center"|1–0 || rowspan="3" align="center"|3–0 || rowspan="3"|1982 FIFA World Cup
|-
| align="center"|19 || align="center"|2–0
|-
| align="center"|20 || align="center"|3–0
|-
| align="center"|21 || 22 May 1983 || Chorzów, Poland || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|1–1 || UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying
|-
| align="center"|22 || 27 March 1984 || Zürich, Switzerland || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|1–1 || Friendly
|-
| align="center"|23 || 19 May 1985 || Athens, Greece || || align="center"|3–1 || align="center"|4–1 || 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| align="center"|24 || 30 May 1985 || Tirana, Albania || || align="center"|1–0 || align="center"|1–0 || 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
|}
Honours
thumb|Boniek (right) in 2011.
thumb|Boniek depicted on an Armenian commemorative coin in 2009.
Widzew Łódź
- Ekstraklasa: 1980–81, 1981–82
Juventus
Individual
- Polish Newcomer of the Year: 1976
- Piłka Nożna Polish Footballer of the Year: 1978, 1982
- FIFA World Cup All-star Team: 1982
- ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 1982
- FIFA 100: 2004
- Golden Foot Legends Award: 2009
- FAI International Football Awards – International Personality: 2012
- Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2019
- Polish Football Association National Team of the Century: 1919–2019
Orders
- Boniek was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta: 1982 80px Krzyż Kawalerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski
- Boniek is a 3rd class knight of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic: 1997 80px Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana
Notes
References
External links
- A song (in Polish) dedicated to Boniek
- BBC: Pele's list of the greatest