After 8 months of retirement, each ending is often a new beginning

The final whistle of the national derby sounded, and when Barcelona teammates were excited to celebrate their fourth victory over Real Madrid in the season, Voiceh Szczesni squatted alone in the penalty area and thoughtfully. Then, he and his wife hugged each other tightly.

"I always try to control myself and not expose my emotions to others, whether positive or negative. But when the game ended, my eyes were full of tears. What a wonderful moment."

Eight months ago, he was enjoying his leisurely days after retirement, and now he has won the league championship trophy with Barcelona, which is also the third championship of the season.

Last September, when I received a call from Lewandowski, Szczesny was bathing in the sun on the golf course in Marbella. Lewandowski asked him tentatively whether he would like to play in Barcelona because their main goalkeeper Ter Stegen was seriously injured.

"Everything happened suddenly. I was thinking at the time that this Barcelona might be able to amazed the world. If I refused and they achieved amazing results this season, I would definitely regret it."

A month ago, he wrote a long article on social media, announcing the end of his 18-year career. Many people don’t understand his decision. After all, 34 is still the golden age for the goalkeeper, and Szczesni explained: “My body is still ready to face any challenges, but my heart is no longer on the court. I feel it’s time to focus on the family, my perfect wife Marina and two adorable children.”

But when the opportunity to join Barcelona was in front of him, Szczesni’s passion for football was rekindled, and his family and friends supported him to come out again. Not long after, he received another call from Barcelona sports director Deco, who and Frick both believed that the young team needed an experienced goalkeeper.

Schchensni proposed a condition when he agreed to join, that is, he had the opportunity to become Barcelona's starting goalkeeper. For him, if he can't play in the game, it's better to go home for vacation.

However, in the first three months of coming to the team, he was all on the bench, and Frick trusted goalkeeper Peña from Lamacia: "It is entirely possible that Inaghi (Penia) will be our main goalkeeper all season, which will help him build confidence."

Until January this year, the situation took an unexpected turn - Peña was late in the pre-Copa REU preparation meeting. As a punishment, in that game against B-Series B team Barbasto, Frick let Szeczesni make his debut for Barcelona.

In that game, Szczesni easily defeated his opponent without permission, and Barcelona won 4-0. From then on, he became Frick's first choice. Even though he was red in the Spanish Super League Cup, and when Benfica made a low-level mistake in the Champions League, Frick insisted on the principle of unquestionable employment.

And the reward is obvious - since his comeback, he played for Barcelona 30 times, Szczesny completed a clean sheet 14 times, and Barcelona lost only 2 of them. Especially in the Champions League knockout match against Benfica and Dortmund, Szczesni performed two feats of eight saves in a single game, making great contributions to Barcelona's breakthrough into the semi-finals. In the words of teammate Eric Garcia, "As long as there is Sczesny behind us, we feel very safe."

Grab the competitor's mistakes and become a team hero. This script is very familiar to Sczesny. But ten years ago, he paid the price for his mistake.

Arsenal fans will definitely not be surprised by Szczesny's current performance.

This Polish boy who left his hometown of Warsaw at the age of 15, was once highly expected by Wenger: "I believe that he will have a great career. Sooner or later, he will become our No. 1 goalkeeper because he has all the qualities of success." In 2009, the 19-year-old Szczesny made his debut for Arsenal's first team. Not long after, he was loaned to Brentford, who was in the League One at the time. Although he only played for half a year, he completely conquered local fans. In 2015, Brentford voted for the best team in the past 10 years. The goalkeeper position was Szczesny, who only played 28 games for the team.

In the 2010-11 season, Szczesny gradually replaced Amunia and Fabianski as the starter, but the memories this season brought him were not beautiful. In the League Cup final, he played against weak team Birmingham. He collided with his defender Koscheerney when he attacked, causing Arsenal to be defeated by his opponent. In the 2011-12 season, he was pierced through the goal eight times in a single game at Old Trafford, but at Anfield, he faced Kuyt's magical two-game saves, which was one of the best saves in the Gunners' history.

There were outrageous divine pounces and outrageous mistakes. At that time, Szczesny was such a nerve knife that was hard to describe. But both teammates and Arsenal fans like this cheerful and funny sunny boy. He once hit Wenger's car with a big foot in the team's promotional video, and also pronounced his name as "CCC Ni" in bad Chinese, and since then he won the nickname "3C".

Of course, sometimes others cannot understand his weird sense of humor. In 2008, when Beckham visited Arsenal training base, Szczesny deliberately asked him: "Hello, what's your name?" This made Beckham quite embarrassed. Szczesni later recalled: "I think he really thought I didn't know him." In the 2013-14 season, Szczesni scored 16 times in the Premier League and shared the gold gloves with Cech. When people thought he finally began to transform into the top goal god Wenger expected, he ruined his bright future with his own hands. In 2017, Marina released a new single called "I Do", the lyricist of this song was Szczesny. "I was idle that day, so I started listening to the melody she created and then trying to write lyrics."

"I sent Marina the lyrics I wrote. I thought she didn't like the lyrics I wrote, but she said it was cool. So I became the lyricist of this song."

On this ups and downs of the National Derby, Marina was by his side when Schchensny broke out of control. If Szczesny had not made a comeback, they might be on the sofa and watching the game with the children at this moment. And now, Szczesni's already extraordinary player career has come to an unexpected climax. Whether Szczesny chooses to renew his contract with Barcelona or officially retire, this night will become an unforgettable memory for him and Marina.

"Every story has an ending, but every ending in life is often a new beginning." Szczesny wrote this when he announced his retirement last year. At that time, he didn't know how exciting this new beginning would be. "What will this new path bring to me? Only time can give the answer. But the past 18 years of career have made me understand that everything is possible."

"So believe me, I will still be the boy who dares to dream."

source:Tỷ số trực tuyến 7m.vn