Grzegorz Lato
Grzegorz Lato | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lato in 2010
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Senator of Rzeszów | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 2001–2005 |
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Preceded by | Józef Frączek | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Władysław Ortyl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
25th President of the PZPN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 30 October 2008 – 26 October 2012 |
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Preceded by | Robert Zawłocki | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Zbigniew Boniek | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Malbork, Poland |
8 April 1950 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Polish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Association football career
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Grzegorz Bolesław Lato (born 8 April 1950 in Malbork) is a retired Polish footballer and manager. He was the leading scorer at the 1974 World Cup. Lato's playing career coincided with the golden era of Polish football, which began with Olympic gold in Munich in 1972 and ended a decade later with third place at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, a repeat of the Poles' impressive finish in 1974 in Germany. He is the only Polish player ever to win the Golden boot at a World Cup.
From 2001 to 2005 Lato, as a member of Democratic Left Alliance, was a senator in Poland. On 30 October 2008, he was elected president of Polish Football Association (PZPN), serving for nearly four years before being succeeded by Zbigniew Boniek on 26 October 2012.
Biography
1974 World Cup
For Poland, Lato has been capped a record 100 times between 1971 and 1984; he scored 45 goals, which is second-best in national history behind Włodzimierz Lubański. Other than the 1974 World Cup, where he scored seven goals, he also participated in the 1978 and 1982 tournaments. In the 1974 World Cup, he won the Golden Shoe after scoring 7 goals throughout the tournament. In a difficult Group 4, the Poles made an early impression, defeating Argentina by a score of 3–2, with two goals from Lato, the first being scored after just seven minutes of play. Buoyed by that success, Poland then posted the tournament's second largest win with a 7–0 defeat of Haiti (the largest being Yugoslavia's 9–0 demolition of Zaire), with Lato weighing in with another two strikes. In the second round, the Stal Mielec-based striker was even more instrumental, scoring winning goals against Group B rivals Sweden (1–0) and Yugoslavia (2–1). And while even Lato was powerless to prevent an agonising 1–0 defeat by Germany in Frankfurt the in-form marksman was able to propel his team to third place courtesy of the only goal in the play-off victory over Brazil. He was then known as Poland's favorite player. While playing for Poland, he helped them win several titles.
Conclusion of international career
After a second-round finish at the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, where Lato scored goals against Tunisia and Brazil, the striker earned another bronze medal in Spain in 1982, where he would record his last strike for his country against Peru. Lato officially retired from international football in April 1984 after collecting his 104th cap against Belgium. He ended his career with the "Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej" (Polish national team) with 45 goals – a record that remains today – and an achievement accompanied by an impressive ratio of 0.43 goals per game.[1] Lato won for Poland medals at two Summer Olympics football competitions: a gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Club career
Lato spent most of his club career with Stal Mielec and led them to Polish Premier League championships in 1973 and 1976, as well as an appearance in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in the 1975–76 season. He earned the distinction as the league's top goalscorer in 1973 (13 goals) and in 1975 (19 goals). Lato spent most of his career with the club, where he made 272 appearances and scored 111 goals in the Polish Premier League. The Polish league prohibited player transfers abroad until a player reached the age of 30, which hindered Lato's opportunities to display his talent on a regular basis for a larger audience across the continent. Lato had turned down a personal invitation from Pelé to play for the New York Cosmos, and in 1980, he began playing for the Belgian club K.S.C. Lokeren. He had also played in Mexico during the 1982–83 season for Atlante F.C., where he amassed 15 goals. He also spent some time in Canada, playing for Polonia Hamilton in the mid-1980s in an amateur league in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Life after football
From 2001 to 2005 Lato, as a member of Democratic Left Alliance, was a senator in Poland. In October 2008 he was elected President of the Polish FA (PZPN). In 2011 he said in an interview, that if Poland isn't promoting Euro 2012 to quarterfinal will hand in his resignation from the position of President of the Polish FA. 19 June 2012 he said he wouldn't hand in his resignation.
Playing style
Blessed with remarkable acceleration, the talented right-winger consistently lived up to the high expectations placed before him whenever he was given the opportunity to compete at the international level. Lato was not renowned as a crowd pleaser, but rather as a consistent and complete team player. His uncanny awareness on the playing field was ostensibly what allowed him to achieve great success at the international and club levels. He could also play as a forward.
Club statistics
Source: National-Football-Teams[1]
Club
Club | Season | League | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | |||
Stal Mielec | 1969–1970 | Ekstraklasa | 18 | 6 |
1970–1971 | Ekstraklasa | 11 | ||
1971–1972 | Ekstraklasa | |||
1972–1973 | Ekstraklasa | 24 | 13 | |
1973–1974 | Ekstraklasa | 13 | ||
1974–1975 | Ekstraklasa | 19 | ||
1975–1976 | Ekstraklasa | 30 | 14 | |
1976–1977 | Ekstraklasa | |||
1977–1978 | Ekstraklasa | |||
1978–1979 | Ekstraklasa | |||
1979–1980 | Ekstraklasa | |||
Total | Stal Mielec | 295 | 117 | |
KSC Lokeren | 1980–1981 | Belgian Pro League | 33 | 6 |
1981–1982 | Belgian Pro League | 31 | 6 | |
Total | KSC Lokeren | 64 | 12 | |
Atlante | 1982–1983 | Liga MX | 36 | 15 |
1983–1984 | Liga MX | 5 | 1 | |
Total | Atlante | 41 | 16 | |
Total | Polonia Hamilton | 52 | 20 | |
Total | Career Total | 452 | 165 |
International goals
Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 19 August 1973 | Varna, Bulgaria | ![]() |
2-0 | Friendly |
2 | 19 August 1973 | Varna, Bulgaria | ![]() |
2-0 | Friendly |
3 | 26 September 1973 | Chorzów, Poland | ![]() |
3-0 | FIFA World Cup 1974 qualifying |
4 | 15 May 1974 | Warszawa, Poland | ![]() |
2-0 | Friendly |
5 | 15 June 1974 | Stuttgart, West Germany | ![]() |
3-2 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
6 | 15 June 1974 | Stuttgart, West Germany | ![]() |
3-2 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
7 | 19 June 1974 | Munich, West Germany | ![]() |
7-0 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
8 | 19 June 1974 | Munich, West Germany | ![]() |
7-0 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
9 | 26 June 1974 | Stuttgart, West Germany | ![]() |
1-0 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
10 | 30 June 1974 | Frankfurt, West Germany | ![]() |
2-1 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
11 | 6 July 1974 | Munich, West Germany | ![]() |
1-0 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
12 | 1 September 1974 | Helsinki, Finland | ![]() |
2-1 | UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying |
13 | 4 September 1974 | Warsaw, Poland | ![]() |
1–3 | Friendly |
14 | 9 October 1974 | Poznań, Poland | ![]() |
3-0 | UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying |
15 | 26 March 1975 | Poznań, Poland | ![]() |
7-0 | Friendly |
16 | 26 March 1975 | Poznań, Poland | ![]() |
7-0 | Friendly |
17 | 28 May 1975 | Halle, East Germany | ![]() |
2-1 | Friendly |
18 | 24 June 1975 | Seattle, United States | ![]() |
4-0 | Friendly |
19 | 6 July 1975 | Montreal, Canada | ![]() |
8-1 | Friendly |
20 | 6 July 1975 | Montreal, Canada | ![]() |
8-1 | Friendly |
21 | 6 July 1975 | Montreal, Canada | ![]() |
8-1 | Friendly |
22 | 10 September 1975 | Chorzów, Poland | ![]() |
4-1 | UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying |
23 | 25 July 1976 | Montreal, Canada | ![]() |
5-0 | 1976 Summer Olympics |
24 | 25 July 1976 | Montreal, Canada | ![]() |
5-0 | 1976 Summer Olympics |
25 | 31 July 1976 | Montreal, Canada | ![]() |
1-3 | 1976 Summer Olympics |
26 | 16 October 1976 | Porto, Portugal | ![]() |
2-0 | FIFA World Cup 1978 qualifying |
27 | 16 October 1976 | Porto, Portugal | ![]() |
2-0 | FIFA World Cup 1978 qualifying |
28 | 15 May 1977 | Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
3-1 | FIFA World Cup 1978 qualifying |
29 | 29 May 1977 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ![]() |
1-3 | Friendly |
30 | 12 June 1977 | La Paz, Bolivia | ![]() |
2-1 | Friendly |
31 | 7 September 1977 | Volgograd, Soviet Union | ![]() |
1-4 | Friendly |
32 | 21 September 1977 | Chorzów, Poland | ![]() |
4-1 | FIFA World Cup 1978 qualifying |
33 | 5 April 1978 | Poznań, Poland | ![]() |
5-2 | Friendly |
34 | 26 April 1978 | Warsaw, Poland | ![]() |
1-0 | Friendly |
35 | 6 June 1978 | Rosario, Argentina | ![]() |
1-0 | 1978 FIFA World Cup |
36 | 21 June 1978 | Mendoza, Argentina | ![]() |
1-3 | 1978 FIFA World Cup |
37 | 6 September 1978 | Reykjavík, Iceland | ![]() |
2-0 | UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying |
38 | 21 March 1979 | Algiers, Algeria | ![]() |
1-0 | Friendly |
39 | 4 April 1979 | Chorzów, Poland | ![]() |
1-1 | Friendly |
40 | 29 August 1979 | Warsaw, Poland | ![]() |
3-0 | Friendly |
41 | 26 March 1980 | Budapest, Hungary | ![]() |
1-2 | Friendly |
42 | 4 April 1980 | Brussels, Belgium | ![]() |
1-2 | Friendly |
43 | 22 June 1980 | Warsaw, Poland | ![]() |
3-0 | Friendly |
44 | 29 June 1980 | São Paulo, Brazil | ![]() |
1-1 | Friendly |
45 | 22 June 1982 | A Coruña, Spain | ![]() |
5-1 | 1982 FIFA World Cup |
Honours
Club level
Stal Mielec
- Polish Premier League – 1st place: 1973, 1976
- Polish Premier League – 2nd place: 1975
- Polish Premier League – 3rd place: 1974, 1979
- Polish Cup – 2nd place: 1976
- UEFA Cup – quarter-finalist: 1975/76
Atlante F.C.
- CONCACAF Champions Cup – Winner: 1983
Individual distinctions
- Polish Premier League Top Goalscorer: 1973, 1975
- Piłka Nożna Player of the Year: 1977
- Sport Player of the Year: 1974, 1977
International level
Team accomplishments with Poland
- Olympic gold medal: 1972
- Olympic silver medeal: 1976
- FIFA World Cup – 3rd place: 1974, 1982
Individual distinctions
References
- ↑ Grzegorz Lato at National-Football-Teams.comLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grzegorz Lato. |
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Preceded by | FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe 1974 |
Succeeded by Mario Kempes |
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- Use dmy dates from October 2012
- Pages with broken file links
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1950 births
- Living people
- People from Malbork
- Polish footballers
- K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players
- Stal Mielec players
- Atlante F.C. footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Belgium
- Expatriate footballers in Mexico
- Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers of Poland
- Olympic gold medalists for Poland
- Olympic silver medalists for Poland
- 1974 FIFA World Cup players
- 1978 FIFA World Cup players
- 1982 FIFA World Cup players
- Poland international footballers
- Polish sportsperson-politicians
- FIFA Century Club
- Polish expatriate footballers
- Belgian Pro League players
- Members of the Senate of Poland 2001–05
- Democratic Left Alliance politicians
- Ekstraklasa players
- Polish football managers
- Amica Wronki managers
- Stal Mielec managers
- Widzew Łódź managers
- Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–89)
- Olympic medalists in football
- Sportspeople from Pomeranian Voivodeship
- Polish expatriates in Belgium
- Polish expatriates in Mexico
- Expatriate soccer managers in Canada