Szczęsny smoked with the Polish president. The secret background of the already former goalkeeper

On 27 August, Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny announced the end of his career, but it is no secret that Wojtek, as he is known in his homeland, liked to smoke during his professional performances. He was not afraid to share a cigarette, even with the president of Poland.

From the book ‘Secrets of the Kadra’ (Kadra is the popular name of the Polish national team in the country itself) by Sebastian Staszewski we can read how during the visit of the head of state Andrzej Duda to the location of the national team he asked the then president of the local federation Zbigniew Bonek whether he could lend him a cigarette.

This was overheard by Szczęsny, who reached out to the Polish guarantor. Despite his embarrassment, Duda accepted the cigarette from the goalkeeper.

In the above-mentioned book we can also read Szczęsny's own memories of the situation:

‘I was jubilant about it. I, Wojtek from Grochów, stand smoking a cigarette with the President of Poland and the President of the Polish Football Association. Mr Duda turned out to be a nice guy.’