Name: Marian Szeja



Country: Poland
Club: AJ Auxerre
Position: *GK
Side: RF/BS
Age: 37-39 years (20/08/1941)

Height: 183 cm
Weight: 83 kg


Attack: 30
Defence: 85
Balance: 83
Stamina: 65
Top Speed: 66
Acceleration: 64
Response: 86
Agility: 72
Dribble Accuracy: 54
Dribble Speed: 54
Short Pass Accuracy: 54
Short Pass Speed: 60
Long Pass Accuracy: 62
Long Pass Speed: 62
Shot Accuracy: 44
Shot Power: 78
Shot Technique: 45
Free Kick Accuracy: 44
Curling: 45
Header: 52
Jump: 79
Technique: 53
Aggression: 45
Mentality: 80
Goalkeeper Skills: 84
Team Work: 74

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition: 6
Weak Foot Accuracy: 4
Weak Foot Frequency: 4
Consistency: 6
Growth Type: Late/Lasting

CARDS:
S12 - 1-on-1 Keeper

SPECIAL ABILITIES: 1-on-1 Keeper

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Defence Minded


INFO:
The man who trained the goalkeepers of the French national team, and taught the president of this country Polish geography. He was at the Olympics in Munich, he played in the squad against the world champions. He even starred in a movie. He played in front of 200.000 spectators at the Maracana and Pele himself did not score a goal for him. Auxerre fans repeat that if it were not for Marian, Auxerre probably would not be in the league now. Szeja also made a path for other Poles, because he played there first.

Goalkeeper of good reflexes and great save. Owner of his area with timely exits to cut centers or to face the striker. Szeja played good on the line and in the 5yard.. He was agile (After all, they called him "black panther" in Wałbrzych, because he sometimes he jumped high) He had a weaker game in the foreground. But when he was leaving the goal, he always went for a catch, he didn't fist, and he grabbed most of it. During his later years, he did not have a big elevation, was not such a good clearer and puncher and was pretty. Also, he didn't have a very strong shot because others took the GK kick, but possessed a very high punt. Very calm, he communicated with very few words but more with his personality, his face.

He made his debut at the age of 14 in Unia Kędzierzyn.As a senior of the Polish national team, he made his debut in Szczecin on October 24, 1965 in a match against Finland (7:0). Later he played against England – on 5 January 1966 in Liverpool (1:1) and in the return leg in Chorzów (lost Polish 0:1); After both of these matches he received (despite conceding goals) good marks and congratulations, also from his opponents. In the Polish tour of South America, Brazil won at the Maracanã stadium (2:1), but the local press made headlines for the fact that the famous striker Pelé failed to score Marian Szeja. His club, renamed Zagłębie Wałbrzych, was promoted to the first league in 1968, and in the 1970-1971 season it took third place and appeared in the UEFA Cup. In 1974 he obtained permission for a foreign contract and went to Metz, and then to the II-league club Auxerre, with whom in 1979 he reached the final of the Coupe de France, and in 1980 he was promoted to the French First Division. Historical goalkeeper of the club, Marian Szeja played 217 games with AJA between 1974 and 1980.

In the national team, in the qualifiers for the 1972 Olympic Games, he was excellently rated after Poland won the qualifying match against Spain (in Gijón; 2:0), as well as after the European Championship qualifying match against West Germany (0:0) played in the same season. He went to the 1972 Munich Olympics as a reserve goalkeeper, but did not enter the field for a single game, not for a single minute. For this reason, he did not receive an Olympic medal and for a long time in the chronicles and sports statistics was not recognized as an Olympian. Only years later he found himself on the official lists of Olympic medalists. His last international match was in 1973 against the USA (0:1).