Władysław Żmuda

Polish footballer (born 1954)

Władysław Antoni Żmuda (; born 6 June 1954) is a Polish former professional footballer, who played as a defender for Śląsk Wrocław, Widzew Łódź, Hellas Verona, New York Cosmos and US Cremonese. He earned 91 caps for the Poland national team and is a four time FIFA World Cup participant.

Żmuda was born in Lublin. He spent six years learning his trade with his first club Motor Lublin before finally spreading his wings in 1973 and switching to Gwardia Warsaw, one of the Polish capital's clubs. The 19 year old Żmuda was instrumental in Gwardia's UEFA Cup campaign of 1973–74 where they narrowly lost out to eventual winners Feyenoord. Żmuda pursued his career in Poland with Śląsk Wrocław and later Widzew Łódź before Italian club Hellas Verona secured permission to sign him from Poland in 1982. After two injury plagued seasons at Verona, Żmuda spent a brief spell with New York Cosmos before returning to Italy with US Cremonese, playing two of his three seasons with the club in Serie B. Żmuda ended his playing career in 1988.

Żmuda played for the Poland national team, for which he earned 91 caps and scored 2 goals. He was a participant at four FIFA World Cups, the first in 1974, where Poland reached third place. He was named as the best young player of the tournament. He played a total of 21 matches at the World Cup finals, the third most ever, tied with Uwe Seeler and Diego Maradona and behind only Lothar Matthäus, Paolo Maldini, Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi. His four tournaments, in 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986, place him fourth in the all time rankings behind Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Antonio Carbajal and Matthäus and level with legends of the game, such as Pelé, Maradona and Gianni Rivera. He was also a participant at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where Poland won the silver medal.