‘Lion King’ roars up charts for Nix
Polish targetman Oskar Zawada has had a big impact on the A-League since arriving at Wellington Phoenix.
The former Wolfsburg youth player has bagged a team-high 11 goals in his first season, which is more than he had scored for any other club during a decade-long professional career that taken him from Poland to Germany, South Korea and NZ.
Did you know anything about New Zealand when the move was first suggested?
I just knew the country New Zealand, that it’s really far away from Poland and that life here was amazing, like in Australia. But I didn’t know a lot, like I do now. I had a few phone calls with people who lived here and I also had a very good conversation with Shaun Gill and Ufuk Talay and it gave me a really good feeling that this is the place where I want to sign my contract.
The one Polish player everyone in New Zealand knows is Robert Lewandowski. Is he someone you look up to, seeing he’s a striker as well?
When I was younger there was no Robert Lewandowski, but maybe nowadays young players in Poland look up to him. I was looking up to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Edin Dzˇeko. They are all tall strikers and I took inspiration from them. I didn’t have just one player I looked up to, but I always really liked good, tall strikers.
You started your career at Wolfsburg in Germany and your time there would have coincided with Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne. Did you two ever play together?
We had some opportunities to train together and to play some friendly games. He’s an amazing player. He wasn’t so famous like he is now but you could see he was going to be a
future star. It didn’t surprise me that he went to Manchester City. He’s very smart and a good footballer.
You and your wife Patrycja announced late last year that you are having a baby, will they be born in New Zealand?
Yes. The baby will be born in New Zealand and I think that’s great. It’s going to be a great memory for the kid and for us. We’re very happy about it. We really like NZ and my wife is also very happy here.
You have a lion tattoo down your forearm and use a lot of lion imagery on your social media posts. What is the inspiration theme?
I really believe that if you manifest something it’s going to happen to you and I had a big inspiration from the lions, the kings of the jungle and I also really like nature. I take inspiration from animals because it’s all about history and biology. I was always joking that I’m the human lion because I am a lion on the pitch.
Speaking of social media, Phoenix fans have loved some of the videos you have posted on Instagram.
There’s people from Poland who follow me and also our fan base from New Zealand, and I know from being a kid what is going on when there’s someone you like. I try to give some stories to the people who supported me because nowadays, we live in a social media society and I try when I have time and motivation to do something extra to give something back to the people, and it’s quite fun for me and people like it. I just try to create and show the people who Oskar Zawada is.
You train at the same facility as the Hurricanes Super Rugby team. Do you have any plans to get along to watch your first rugby game?
I have conversations with some players and so far I really like these players and the work ethic they have. For sure, I’d like to watch some games of the Hurricanes.
Is it true that your Dad was a special agent?
Yeah, yeah that’s true. He was a policeman who was sent to dangerous situations — for example when there’s a mafia boss or something and you have to go with a lot of people to take him down. It was quite dangerous.