Great transfer of a Polish footballer. Nobody will say a bad word about him

– Recently he came to Wronki with gingerbread. Years ago, I taught him how to bake and we prepared them every year before Christmas. We talked a lot then. Later, he would take the cake with him to Silesia and at home baked it for his parents. Now he made them for me himself – says Teresa Dąbrowska, who has been taking care of young players for over 20 years.

– I’m for everything. I take care of the boys. I am their psychologist, sometimes I am a tutor, sometimes I am a tutor. I never heard “I don’t feel like” from Cuba. He did not create any problems. He listened to being spoken to. I kept repeating, “Think about the future. Put money aside. Treat it wisely and surround yourself with the right people who will want you well.” Today I put him as a role model for other boys. His head and legs always went hand in hand with him. This is the formula for success. And I know formulas because I am a mathematician.

– He called me after signing the contract. Enjoyed. I was also happy. I’m proud. How I treat my son – says the woman whom Kamiński called in one of the interviews “my second mother”.

Instead of a phone for yourself, a gift for your brother

he joined the Lech academy in 2015. He was 13 years old. There was no overflow in the family home. In the bag, he brought new plugs, bought for less than PLN 200. Professional ones can cost several times more and his new colleagues already had one. Others for artificial turf, others for natural turf. One with screwed stoppers, the other with “lances”. For playing in the rain and on a dry pitch. Jakub Kamiński’s ones fell apart after six months. He couldn’t afford new ones. But colleagues changed the plugs when a new model came out, not when it got damaged, so they left the old ones for him. They liked him. And he was grateful. Today, Kamiński gives his boots to footballers from the academy.

Once he was late for the assembly, although the coach sent all players a collective message that they were leaving earlier. When he reprimanded Jakub, it turned out that he did not have a telephone. He didn’t buy it for the first money he got from the scholarship. He put it aside for a gift for his brother.

– He was closed in on himself for a long time and fought with complexes. He was not very eager to speak, it always suited him well. However bad the conditions in any preparation were, he did so. He took what they gave and concentrated on his work. He was polite, well-mannered. Only with time did it open. During the match of the national team under 17, I heard for the first time that he was upset and cursed. Until with the coaches we looked at each other: “It is Kamyk who knows such words ?! What is going on here?” We laughed. On the pitch, as in life: he did not talk back to anyone, he did not give up to anyone, he did not argue with anyone – says coach Przemysław Małecki, currently working in, who first met Kamiński at the Lech Poznań academy, and later appointed him to the Polish national team to 16 and 17 years old.

– You’ll be calling many people? – asks Małecki. – If you find someone who says something bad about him, I will be very surprised.

Even in Lech Poznań there were players more talented than Jakub Kamiński

In early January, two young Polish footballers were sold for around EUR 10 million. 19-year-old Kamiński was bought by Wolfsburg, and one year younger from Pogoń Szczecin – by Brighton. Their paths to strong leagues, however, are completely different.

Kozłowski, where he did not appear, was the best. In youths, juniors, reserves and subsequent youth representations. The coaches agreed: they had never worked with such talent before. He boldly entered the first team of Pogoń. Even in Lech, Kamiński was not recognized as the most talented in his yearbook.

– He played for one team with. Together they also came to the training camps of the representation. And it must be said clearly: Marchwiński had more talent. In this respect, he stood out from the rest of Europe. If, during our matches with Portugal or the Netherlands, Filip changed his jersey and played with them, he would have had no problems. I even think that he would still stand out – admits Małecki.

– In the national team, every six months we made such internal Top 5 rankings of our players, without division into positions. Marchwiński was always first, behind him, and then Kuba Kamiński. In the national team under 17, Marchwiński scored 14 goals. Another player – Michał Rakoczy – had six goals. That was the difference.

– But of course we saw potential in Kamiński. He had very good dynamics, he was intelligent and tactically clever. But he wins mainly with his character: diligence, humility, steadfastness. It is beyond maturity for all its peers. Difficult moments influenced how strong his character is – adds the former 2002 selector.

In sports, it is often easier to attack from second or third place than to defend a leadership position, while bearing a lot of pressure. Today, Kamiński was sold to the Bundesliga club and will leave Poznań in the summer, and Marchwiński is Lech’s backup. However, Małecki believes that in the case of Kamiński, the lack of such high expectations was of little importance. – He has great mental toughness. We made these rankings and compared the players for our own use. The players themselves often create similar rankings in their heads, which does not always help them. But it seems to me that Kuba never focused on it. He didn’t look at who was better than him at any given moment. He did not chase Marchwiński because he was not interested in what was happening around him at all. He concentrated on his work.

There were no major objections to Kamiński’s game in the previous season, which Lech finished in a disappointing seventh place. In this, however, the hit winger became one of the team leaders, leading in the table at the halfway point of the season. In 19 league matches he scored six goals and assisted in five. – We wanted him to take responsibility for the offensive game. We wanted to make the best use of its dynamics and hit character. The numbers have come to this. But with Cuba, nothing has really changed. Not the stars. He is one of the last to leave training, because he has to pick up the balls after the older players and recognize the equipment – says Maciej Kędziorek, assistant to Maciej Skorża, Lech coach.

How did Lech Poznań persuade Jakub Kamiński?

“He is only 12 years old, less than 160 cm tall and 40 kg weight, and already Lech Poznań and Legia Warszawa want him. Half of the top league clubs stand in the shadow of the giants. In Szombierki they expect the boy to leave Bytom in June” – wrote in 2014 “Super Express”.

At that time, Lech was implementing a consultation project for young players from all over Poland, who stood out in their provincial teams. He would invite them to Poznań every few weeks and – if they were good enough – persuaded them to move permanently.

– It was our original idea. Parents and players first learned about the values ​​and goals of the Lech Poznań Academy. The first consultation for a large group took place in June 2014 and began in the conference room at the Lech stadium – says Marcin Salamon, the academy’s coach, who was responsible for the 2002 selection process while working at the Lech Nursery.

– The first classes included both the elements of exercises that characterized our game model and the related training model, as well as the game during which we could observe the players in a more relaxed environment for them. The aim was to be able to compare players in the training part that required concentration, adaptability and gradual progression. In this part, Kuba presented himself correctly. The game proper, which ended the first consultation, was already at a lower level in his performance. The characteristics of the game in twelve-year-old boys, who in most cases had the opportunity to play together for the first time, result in the fact that individual actions predominate and not all of them can show their full skills. Cuba was rarely in the game during this endgame consultation. The training and the game were recorded and analyzed. Application? Kuba needs time to function in the new environment.

– The next consultation lasted two days. We wanted to check how the boys spend their free time, how they cope outside the pitch and whether they will find their way in the boarding school in Wronki. Kuba handled everything very well: he was distinguished by speed during training, and outside the field by discipline and good manners. When there was time to regenerate, he rested. The room was tidy.

– His comprehensive preparation made itself felt in the game. Parents were acrobats. Dad lectured at the University of Physical Education in Katowice, and my mother was also a trainer. As a child, Kuba went to training with them, so when he got a high cross, he was not afraid to hit the ball with a flip-over. A beautiful goal was scored, remembers Salamon.

– After the second consultation, we rejected six players and invited 12 for further consultations, tournaments and training camps. They were to gradually get to know the new environment so as not to go into the unknown at the time of transfer. Kuba formally came to us in 2015, but in fact he operated at the academy on the basis of these consultations already a year before the transfer. He knew all colleagues, our rules and the whole philosophy of work in Wronki.

Along the way, the teenager from Silesia also visited other leading academies. – We didn’t want to cut corners and have Cuba here and now. We let him visit other clubs so that he would have a comparison and make an informed decision – says Salamon. The competition for a talented footballer was fought between Lech and Legia. Only on the final straight, when Jakub was convinced of Lech, Górnik Zabrze entered the game. But the player did not change his decision.

Supporters of Legia Warsaw helped

The choice of Kamiński was influenced by the fans of Legia, who attacked the parents of young footballers during the tests. Legia then invited a dozen or so boys from Silesia. One of the parents watching the training was wearing a hat or a backpack with a coat of arms. When the fans noticed this, there was a brawl. Frightened parents made a solid and several decision to let go of the next day of testing and go back to each other. Jakub Kamiński’s mother was also quite scared. In Lech, not only were the infrastructure conditions better, but it was also calmer and safer.

“Young footballers often lack determination than fitness or technical skills. Kuba in this respect is simply unique”

It was my mother who contacted the coaches, went to matches and went to parent-teacher meetings. She cried with emotion when her son made his debut for Lech. She did not live to see the first match in the national team. She struggled with an alcoholism. She died in March 2020 before a meeting with Górnik, important for Jakub. A club that he has in his heart and played football during his childhood. Colleagues and coaches did not know what kind of tragedy he was struggling with. He played for her. Only when he was leaving the field did his tears flow.

– Kuba is a very strong man. He did not show that something so difficult had happened in his life. Shortly before the game, our spokesman told me about everything. I decided that since Kuba didn’t say anything and wanted to play, I would let him do it and act as if I didn’t know anything about it. The whole team found out after the match – says Dariusz Żuraw, who was training Lech at the time.

– In February 2014, we had a camp in Żagań. I was informed that Kuba would be going there with the parents of other boys who were traveling from Silesia. But I sent the grouping plan to all of them anyway. We left Poznań at 7:30 am. By six o’clock I was already at the stadium. As I entered, I saw that Kuba and his mother were sleeping on the sofas by the reception desk. The porter told me that they arrived at two in the morning and asked if they could sleep here because they were going to the camp in the morning. All their determination came out. They did not get along with the parents of those boys, but since they gave us their word that they would be at the camp, they took the train and got to Poznań at night, from where we went to the camp together – says Marcin Salamon.

– That says it all about the character of Cuba. Today, young boys training football more often lack determination than fitness or technical-tactical skills. It is the mentality that very often determines who goes higher and plays professionally, and who stays at the amateur level. Cuba is unique in this respect. There were no obstacles that could take away his dreams, emphasizes Salamon.

– It’s good that he is doing well. He deserved it – believes Małecki, who was right that none of our interlocutors would say a bad word about Kamiński.