Polish fan walks 100km to game after goalkeeper scores

RADOM. — A Polish soccer fan completed a 100-kilometre walk yesterday to meet the goalkeeper of Radomiak Radom, honouring a pledge he made on social media.

Jan Jurek had vowed in February to walk to the stadium of any team whose goalkeeper scored in Poland’s top-flight league, Ekstraklasa.

“I made a post that if a goalkeeper scores a goal before the season ends, then I will go on foot to the stadium of the club he is playing for,” Jurek told Reuters.

Radomiak’s Gabriel Kobylak became the first goalkeeper to score this season on April 1 when his kick from just outside his own area bounced in front of the opposition goalkeeper and into the net.

Jurek, an ardent Ekstraklasa fan, set off from the south-eastern town of Sandomierz to Radom, situated 100km south of Warsaw, for Radomiak’s match against Zaglebie Lubin.

He said passing trucks and muddy roadsides were the most challenging aspects of the walk, but it was all worth it as he was presented with a signed jersey by Radom’s keeper before the game which Radom lost 4-3 to Zaglebie Lubin. — Reuters.