Łukasz Kaczmarek for “Wprost” about the best match of his life. This is a special clash

Łukasz Kaczmarek had the difficult task of replacing Bartosz Kurek as the attacker of the Polish national team in the 2023 season. The captain of the White and Reds had a lot of health problems, and in his absence it was the ZAKSA volleyball player who took over, being one of the team leaders.

Łukasz Kaczmarek pointed to a unique match in his career

The attacker made his debut for the senior national team in 2017. The first serious event Kaczmarek went to was the European Championships. The White and Reds, led by Ferdinando De Giorgi, did not manage to advance, even to the quarterfinals.

Since then, “Zwierzak” has achieved many successes with the team. At the top of the list can be placed, for example, runner-up in the World Championship (2022), European Championship (2023) or winning the Nations League (2023). The latter success was highlighted by a great performance in the final against the Americans. The Poles won 3:1, and Kaczmarek became the hero of the match.

– In my adventure with volleyball, I played many solid matches, but if I had to bet on the best, I have to agree with you. The match against the Americans was my best national team performance, and this is also an additional value when choosing. While playing for ZAKSA, I had several matches in which I was on fire. First of all, I mean the matches in the Champions League. However, the duel with the USA will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was the first fight in the national team, with a stake I had never played for before, as a basic player. Up to that point, I had played many important matches, but in the club version. For me, however, there is no comparison of the scale between the club and the national team. The Champions League final and the Nations League final are completely different worlds, to the VNL’s advantage. How many people are interested in Poland’s matches, the attendance in the stands and the viewership is something amazing – admitted the attacker of the Polish national team and Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle.

It is worth recalling that, apart from his successes with the Polish national team, Kaczmarek’s achievements include: three-time Champions League winner with the club from Kędzierzyn-Koźle. ZAKSA dominated the most important club competitions in Europe in 2021-23.

A great season for the Polish volleyball team

The year 2023 was extremely successful for both women and men, looking at the volleyball competition of the Polish national team. After a sixteen-year break, women advanced to the Olympic tournament. In addition to tickets to the Olympic Games in Paris (2024), the Polish women stood on the podium of the Nations League for the first time in the history of the competition, and also reached the quarterfinals of the European Championships. It was a really good year for the team led by Italian coach Stefano Lavarini.

Polish volleyball players also had an exceptional year. The team led by Nikola Grbic carried out the maximum plan for the national team season. The White and Reds started with a victory in the Nations League, defeating the Americans in the gold medal match in the tightly packed Ergo Arena in Tricity. Then the Poles won the European championship, the first since 2009 and the second in the history of Polish volleyball players. At the end of the season, Aleksander Śliwka and company concluded their successful months by winning the Olympic qualification, after a long and arduous tournament in China. Polish volleyball players also achieved a great streak of 24 wins in a row, which will last at least until the first official match of the national team in 2024.