FIFA World Cup

High praise indeed, and all the more significant when one considers that it came from the great Zbigniew Boniek, a star of the 1982 FIFA World Cup™ and, arguably, the finest footballer Poland has ever produced. So, who is the player to have earned the acclaim of a man who conquered Italy and Europe with Juventus during the 1980s?

Maciej Zurawski certainly is not one of the stars of world football, nor, at 29, can he be considered an emerging talent. The Celtic striker is, however – according to Boniek, at least – one of the game’s classic late developers and with seven goals to his name in FIFA World Cup qualifying, he will shoulder a heavy burden of responsibility this summer for ensuring Poland improve on their disastrous showing in 2002.

Ordinarily, Zurawski’s first name should be pronounced ‘Ma-chai’. Not in Glasgow. After a debut season at Celtic that has yielded a Scottish league title and 19 goals, he has earned the moniker ‘Magic’ and the feeling in his homeland is that if anyone is going to pull a proverbial rabbit out of the hat for Poland in neighbouring Germany, it is likely to be the former Wisla Krakow marksman.

Not that you would know Zurawski is under pressure. As he sat down for an exclusive interview with FIFAworldcup.com at Celtic Park, Zurawski gave the impression of a man utterly at ease and, in his own words, "ready for the challenge".

FIFAworldcup.com: It’s been a rewarding first season for you at Celtic, but a tough one too. How are you feeling, physically and mentally, ahead of the FIFA World Cup?
Maciej Zurawski: I feel really good. Physically I’m strong, and mentally I feel ready for the challenge that we as a team face in Germany. I’m going there to score goals and play well, and I feel confident in my ability to do that. Obviously the injury I had earlier in the season (Zurawski sat out two months after tearing a hamstring in October) hampered my progress at Celtic for a while, but it also allowed me to rest and I feel I’ve come back from it well. If anything, I think I’ve played better at times than I did before I was injured. Now I’m just going to focus on the rest of Celtic’s matches so that I can go to Germany confident, in good form and scoring goals. I will also have time for a short holiday before the World Cup and that will give me all the rest I need.

Clearly, no footballer ever enjoys being out injured but, in retrospect, do you feel that you’re now benefiting from the time you spent on the sidelines earlier in the season?
It’s possible, sure, although I hadn’t really thought about it that way. But I’ve enjoyed this season and I think that when you’re enjoying your football, you tend not to be as tired as when things are going badly, so I think I’d be OK even if I’d played every game for Celtic. It is a long season, though, particularly when you have a big tournament at the end, and I’m sure most people would say that you’ll always benefit from a break at some stage.

Having played your whole career in Poland prior to last summer, do you feel experiencing a different football culture in Scotland has left you a more rounded player, and better-equipped for the challenge of a FIFA World Cup?
I’m sure of it. I have definitely changed as a player in my time here. I’m much more organised and tactically aware on the pitch now, plus the pace and standard of the game here is higher than it is in Poland. So, too, are the expectations at this club, where you have 60,000 fans every week. All of this has helped me improve and I’m sure that this World Cup will be a lot better for me, and for the team, than Korea and Japan in 2002.

You mention the disappointment of 2002, when you failed to score and your team finished bottom of their section. How do you feel Poland have changed in the four years since?
We have changed significantly since then, there’s no question about that. A lot of the old players have left and now I would say nearly everything is different: the coach, the players, the tactics and also probably the mentality. The main thing, though, is that we make sure the result is different for us this time, and I’m confident that we’ll do that.

The fans seem to think you’ll do well. A recent poll on FIFAworldcup.com asked which sides would progress from Group A and 43 per cent of voters tipped Germany and Poland to go through. Would you agree with that prediction?
(Smiling) I’m happy people have confidence in us and, if you think of it logically, you would have to say that Germany and Poland start as the favourites in that section. But football is never so simple. This isn’t a friendly, it’s the World Cup, and extraordinary things happen at World Cups, especially in the group stages. Sometimes the smaller, weaker teams are the ones you need to fear most because all the pressure is on the more established nations.

The hosts will obviously be strong but what do you know about your other Group A opponents, Ecuador and Costa Rica?
Not much at the moment, to be totally honest. I’ve had too much happening here at Celtic. But there’s still quite a lot of time before the World Cup starts and I’m sure that, as the tournament comes closer, we’ll look at videos as a team and do our research to find out what we’re up against. The manager will make sure of that.

What about back home in Poland? Have you heard much about the mood among the supporters?
I hear bits and pieces from my family and I know that the fans are definitely getting excited about the tournament. But they’re also realistic. No-one expects us to win the World Cup, that’s for sure. Everyone would be happy to see us win a couple of games and get out of our group section successfully. After that, anything else will be a bonus.

Is there a special significance to this tournament given that it’s being held in Germany, where Poland performed so well by finishing third in 1974?
Not to me, I must say. I’m just not a person who thinks much about the past and, although every Pole is very proud of the team that played so well in West Germany, this tournament would matter just as much to me if it was being played anywhere else in the world. I think most players are the same in that we think only of the future.

Finally, can I ask about your own favourite memories of the FIFA World Cup, both as a Pole and simply as a football supporter?
To be playing in a World Cup is amazing. When I was small, I only ever dreamed about becoming a professional and playing in the Polish premier league. The World Cup would have been too much to wish for, I think. Obviously, I know all about the great Polish players who’ve played well in this tournament, though I was too young to see many of them play, and of course I hope to do well for my country and make the people happy. But, without being disrespectful, my hero wasn’t a Pole – it was Marco van Basten. Growing up, he was the striker I most wanted to play like and, if I can be a little bit like him in Germany, I think I’ll do OK.