Artur Boruc. From World Class to No Class?

Poland produces many fine, high quality products such as; beer, vodka, pierogies and ever so often a World Class keeper or two. Artur Boruc fits in with the latter, but in recent years his phenomenal performances and incredible penalty saves have been largely overshadowed by several surprising incidents.

Flashback to 1999, a young keeper signs his first major contract with a very good Polish side; Legia Warszawa. At this point in time, Artur has already represented Poland at U-17, U-18, and U19 levels and has shown alot of promise. Still, this does not cement his place at Legia, he waits to get his chance and sure enough in 2002, he becomes the clubs starter.What follows? Several great honours such as Goalkeeper of the Year, New Finding of the Year, and Best Goalkeeper in Poland just to name a few.

Summer of 2005, Boruc dreams turn into reality as he leaves Poland to start a new career and life with world renowned club Celtic FC. Scotland sets the stage for Boruc to become legendary, and he does not disappoint. Three consecutive Scottish League Championship, a Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. To top it off a remarkable Champions League campaign in 2006, where Boruc saved Louis Sahas penalty in the 89th minute to send them into the knockout stage of the tournament. In 2007, he stayed true to his Champions League form by saving two penalty shots in the shoot out between Spartak Moscow and Celtic, which gave them passage into the next round. If anyone forgot some of his heroics, just take a quick look at the yotube video vs Milan. 

Boruc, became a household name, just as the likes of legendary Jerzy Dudek. In 2006, Boruc played his heart out at the World Cup in Germany, and in 2008 he flashed his World Class abilities at the Euro Championship in Austria.

Our Holy Goalie's super star status had finally caught up with him and he started to fall of track, many locker room incidents, on-field fights and then of course the public off-field problems continued to haunt Boruc. He had an unorthodox way of communicating with Ranger players and fans as he continued to bless himself causing a huge uproar in the stands. Artur enjoyed taking matters into his own hands, as he battled with many players throughout his stay at the Bhoys.

Boruc was the main topic of discussion and was an immediate hit with the tabloids, as they made a mockery of everything he had done or supposedly did. The downward spiral continued but this time hitting home as a rumour of a fling ended his marriage with sweetheart Kasia.

Months later things turned from bad to worst as Artur was kicked off the Polish National Team for reportedly drinking with a teammate and destroying a hotel room. After serving a 2 match ban he returned to the team but was never the same.

In 2010, Artur's dad passed away and now was left without a real parent. At this point in time, Artur really needed somebody close but with his mom and dad gone it was not going to be easy. This past October, Artur and the rest of the Polish NT members completed the North American tour playing a good game against the U.S.A and then Ecuador.

The airplane ride, although a long one had it's own special on board turbulence. What became a pretty cheerful time on board was exploited by the media and once again Artur's name had popped up and was leading all headlines. Artur wasn't a goalie anymore he was the next witch in this super studded witch hunt. NT manager Smuda decided that Boruc and Zewlakow behaviour was so unacceptable that he had erased both great competitors from any further squad considerations.

To sum up, several interviews ensued and Artur explained himself saying that Smuda is irrational and he said that it would be okay if they drank with him, he then stated that his behaviour was not bad at all, and that all he did was have a glass or two of wine with his good buddy Micheal.

Looking ahead, it is 2011 and Artur Boruc has moved to Seria A side Fiorentina for an undisclosed fee. It's funny that during his best time at Celtic FC he was close to moving away from the Scottish side for a sum of 8 million euros, how times have changed. Moving forward, after impressing in several friendlies he was going to give their starting goalkeeper Sebastien Frey a run for his money. Well, several games later Artur was on the bench when all of the sudden Frey hurts his knee and is out indefinitely. Boruc steps in and plays very well, but then hurts his shoulder and now is waiting to prove to the world that he is still one of the best to ever play this position.

What do you think? Should Boruc be allowed back in the Polish squad? Is he past his immature ways? Feel free to comment...