View source for Robert Gadocha

{{Short description|Polish footballer}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Gadocha.jpeg|thumbnail]] -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name      = Robert Gadocha
| image = Robert Gadocha 1973 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Gadocha in 1973
| fullname = 
| height = {{convert|1.70|m|abbr=on}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|1|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kraków]], Poland
| death_date = 
| position = Left [[Midfielder#Winger|winger]]
| youthyears1 = 1957–1965
| youthclubs1 = [[Garbarnia Kraków]]
| years1 = 1965–1966 
| years2 = 1966–1975 
| years3 = 1975–1977 
| years4 = 1978
| years5 = 1980–1981
| clubs1 = [[Wawel Kraków]] 
| clubs2 = [[Legia Warsaw]] 
| clubs3 = [[FC Nantes|Nantes]] 
| clubs4 = [[Chicago Sting]] 
| clubs5 = [[Hartford Hellions]] ''(indoor)''
| caps1 =            
| caps2 = 206  
| caps3 = 45   
| caps4 = 12   
| caps5 = 21  
| goals1 =  
| goals2 = 72  
| goals3 = 8  
| goals4 = 1  
| goals5 = 14 
| nationalyears1 = 1967–1975
| nationalteam1 = [[Poland national football team|Poland]]
| nationalcaps1 = 62  
| nationalgoals1 = 16       
| medaltemplates      = 
{{Medal|Sport|Men's [[Association football|football]]}}
{{Medal|Country|{{fb|POL}}}}
{{Medal|Comp|[[FIFA World Cup]]}}
{{Medal|3rd|[[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974 West Germany]]|}}
{{Medal|Comp|[[Football at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Munich]] | [[Football at the 1972 Summer Olympics|Team]]}}
}}
'''Robert Gadocha''' (born 10 January 1946) is a Polish former professional [[Association football|footballer]] who played as a left [[Midfielder#Winger|winger]].

Gadocha, who started his career in [[Garbarnia Kraków]]. later also played for [[FC Nantes]], and briefly in the [[United States]] for [[Chicago Sting]], his last professional team. His departure to France happened when he was 29. In Poland it was forbidden for a long time to departure abroad to play football. He was the first Polish player to get a legal permission to move abroad to play football.<ref>https://transfery.info/aktualnosci/historia-polskich-transferow-wprowadzenie/44325</ref><ref>https://legia.com/pilka-nozna/historia-kalendarium-legii-29-marca-robert-gadocha-pilkarz-ktorego-kochala-cala-warszawa/8735</ref>

He was a member of the [[Poland national football team|Poland national team]] that won the gold medal at the [[1972 Summer Olympics]] in [[Munich]], as well as a member of the team that finished third in the [[1974 FIFA World Cup]] in [[West Germany]]. He has a total of 16 goals in 62 games with the Poland national team.<ref>[http://www.kadra.pl/index.php?strona=historia&dzial=reprezentanci&litera=G-J Kadra.pl] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123092136/http://www.kadra.pl/index.php?strona=historia&dzial=reprezentanci&litera=G-J |date=23 January 2008 }}</ref>

Gadocha holds the record for the most assists in a single match in [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup finals]] history, alongside [[Giovanni Ferrari]], assisting four goals [[1974 FIFA World Cup Group 4#Haiti vs Poland|in his team's 7–0 victory]] against [[Haiti national football team|Haiti]] in the group stage of the 1974 World Cup.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.twitter.com/optajoe/status/1256184093236170752 |title=Robert Gadocha stat|publisher=Opta |access-date=29 November 2022 |via=[[Twitter]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://globalsportsarchive.com/match/soccer/1974-06-19/haiti-vs-poland/85814/ |title=Poland vs. Haiti|publisher=globalsportsarchive.com |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref>

In 1978, Gadocha moved to the [[Chicago Sting]] of the [[North American Soccer League (1968-1984)|North American Soccer League]].  He also spent one season, 1980–81, with the [[Hartford Hellions]] of the [[MISL I|Major Indoor Soccer League]].

==Career statistics==
===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="9"|[[Poland national football team|Poland]]
|1967||3||0
|-
|1968||4||1
|-
|1969||2||0
|-
|1970||5||1
|-
|1971||5||2
|-
|1972||10||4
|-
|1973||15||5
|-
|1974||14||2
|-
|1975||4||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!62!!16
|}

==Honours==
'''Legia Warsaw'''<ref name="90m">{{cite web |title=Robert Gadocha |url=http://www.90minut.pl/kariera.php?id=8100 |website=90minut.pl |access-date=2 August 2024 |language=pl}}</ref>
* [[Ekstraklasa]]: [[1968–69 Ekstraklasa|1968–69]], [[1969–70 Ekstraklasa|1969–70]]
* [[Polish Cup]]: 1972–73

'''Nantes'''
* [[Ligue 1|French Division 1]]: [[1976–77 French Division 1|1976–77]]<ref name="90m"/>

'''Poland'''
* [[Football at the Summer Olympics|Olympic]] gold medal: [[Football at the 1972 Summer Olympics|1972]]<ref name="90m"/>
* [[FIFA World Cup]] third place: [[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974]]<ref name=90m/>

'''Individual'''
* [[World Soccer (magazine)#Eric Batty's World XI|World XI]]: 1974<ref name="BTLM70s">{{cite web |url=https://beyondthelastman.com/2013/11/07/eric-battys-world-xis-the-seventies/ |website=Beyond The Last Man |date=7 November 2013 |title=Eric Batty's World XI – The Seventies |access-date=22 July 2020 |archive-date=5 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705040250/https://beyondthelastman.com/2013/11/07/eric-battys-world-xis-the-seventies/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*''Sport Ideal European XI'': 1974<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/1975/01/01/pagina-30/1005843/pdf.html |website=Mundo Deportivo|title=Sport 1974|access-date=4 June 2024 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{90minut|8100}}
* [http://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/G/Gadocha.Robert.htm NASL/MISL stats]
* {{NFT player|id=17454}}

{{1974 World Soccer World XI}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Poland squads
|bg = white
|fg = #D4213D
|list1=
{{Poland Squad 1972 Summer Olympics}}
{{Poland Squad 1974 World Cup}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gadocha, Robert}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Footballers from Kraków]]
[[Category:Polish men's footballers]]
[[Category:Poland men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Poland]]
[[Category:Olympic footballers for Poland]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in football]]
[[Category:1974 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:Garbarnia Kraków players]]
[[Category:Wawel Kraków players]]
[[Category:Legia Warsaw players]]
[[Category:FC Nantes players]]
[[Category:Chicago Sting (NASL) players]]
[[Category:Hartford Hellions players]]
[[Category:Ekstraklasa players]]
[[Category:Ligue 1 players]]
[[Category:Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players]]
[[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players]]
[[Category:Polish expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in France]]
[[Category:Polish expatriate sportspeople in France]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States]]
[[Category:Polish expatriate sportspeople in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish sportsmen]]

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{{Poland-Olympic-medalist-stub}}