Ludovic Obraniak
Encyclopedia
Ludovic Joseph Obraniak (born 10 November 1984 in Longeville-lès-Metz
Longeville-lès-Metz
Longeville-lès-Metz is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Moselle department...

) is a Polish-French
Polish minority in France
Poles in France, or the Polish community in France is one of the oldest in Europe.About one million people of Polish descent live in France, concentrated in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, in the metropolitan area of Lille and the coal-mining basin around Lens and Valenciennes...

 footballer currently playing for Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

 side Lille OSC
Lille OSC
LOSC Lille Métropole is a French association football club based in Lille. The club was founded in 1944 as a result of a merger and currently play in Ligue 1, the first division of French football. Lille plays its home matches at the Stade Lille-Metropole in nearby Villeneuve-d'Ascq. In 2012, the...

 and the Polish national football team
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...

. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder.

FC Metz

Obraniak began his football career with his local club FC Metz
FC Metz
Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as simply Metz , is a French association football club based in Metz. The club was formed in 1932 and has spent most of its history in the Ligue 1, though they currently play in Ligue 2, the second level in French football league system. Metz plays its...

. Due to his consistent play in the reserves
Championnat de France Amateurs
The Championnat de France amateur, commonly referred to as simply CFA and formerly known as National 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2, and the Championnat National...

, he was quickly promoted to the senior side by then-manager Jean Fernandez
Jean Fernandez
Jean Fernandez is a football manager, currently manages AS Nancy. He has previously managed FC Metz and Olympique Marseille, where French national team star Franck Ribéry saw him as a mentor...

 making his debut during the 2003–04 season
Ligue 1 season 2003-04
Olympique Lyonnais won Ligue 1 season 2003/2004 of the French Association Football League with 79 points.- 20 participating clubs :* AC Ajaccio* AJ Auxerre* SC Bastia* Girondins de Bordeaux* En Avant de Guingamp* Le Mans Union Club 72* RC Lens...

 in a 0–2 loss to Bordeaux
FC Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux is a French association football club based in the city of Bordeaux. The club currently play in Ligue 1, the first division of French football, and won its last Ligue 1 title in the 2008–09 season....

 coming on as a late-match substitute wearing the number 13 shirt. Over the next two years, Metz showed their inconsistent play finishing 16th in 2004–05
Ligue 1 season 2004-05
The 2004/2005 season of Ligue 1 was a very close-run battle. Separating fourth placed Rennes, who enter the UEFA Cup and 18th placed Caen, who get relegated to Ligue 2, were 13 mere points. Lyon were long time leaders and had won the league back in April 2005...

 and finishing dead bottom of the table in 2005–06, thus being relegated. Obraniak was the primary bright spot in the squad appearing in 61 matches and scoring 3 goals over those years.

With Metz in Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...

, several Ligue 1 clubs drew their interest over to Orabniak. Despite this, he still played half the season in Ligue 2 with Metz appearing in 20 matches and scoring 2 goals. The following winter would see his departure. After weeks of silent negotiating, Metz finally came to an agreement on January 23, 2007 with the Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas de Calais , Nord for short, is one of the 27 regions of France. It consists of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, in the north and has a border with Belgium. Most of the region was once part of the Southern Netherlands, within the Low Countries, and gradually became part of France...

-based side Lille OSC
Lille OSC
LOSC Lille Métropole is a French association football club based in Lille. The club was founded in 1944 as a result of a merger and currently play in Ligue 1, the first division of French football. Lille plays its home matches at the Stade Lille-Metropole in nearby Villeneuve-d'Ascq. In 2012, the...

. Metz received €1.2m, as well as the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

 Daniel Gygax
Daniel Gygax
Daniel Gygax is a Swiss football midfielder. He currently plays for FC Luzern and the Swiss national team.-Career:On 7 July 2008, Gygax moved to FC Nuremberg in Germany. He left the team on 30 June 2010 to join FC Luzern...

.

Lille OSC

Obraniak agreed to a 4-year contract keeping him with the club until 2010. He made his debut with Lille four days later coming on substitute in a match against Bordeaux. He played in every remaining match that season, making on and off starts and substitute appearances. With Lille playing in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 that season, he appeared in both legs of their knockout stage match against Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

. The following season
Ligue 1 2007-08
The 2007–08 Ligue 1 season is the seventieth since its establishment, and started in August 2007 and ended on 17 May 2008. The fixtures were announced in June 2007. Lyon became French champions, having won a record seventh consecutive title ....

, Obraniak had a solid season appearing in 35 matches and scoring 2 goals, though Lille finished out of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 in the league standings. For the 2008–09 season, he got off to a fast start scoring 7 goals in only 16 appearances contributing to Lille's 5th place position heading into the winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...

 break, but he has since cooled off scoring just twice in his last 8 league matches.

International career

Obraniak made an appearance for the France under-21
France national under-21 football team
The France national under-21 football team , known in France as Les Espoirs , is the national under-21 football team of France and is controlled by the French Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years...

 squad, however, since it was not a match for points FIFA did not consider him permanently capped. This was later confirmed by FIFA's decision to remove the age limit on nationality switches of players who had only been capped at youth level.

Due to having Polish roots through his grandfather, Zygmunt Obraniak who was from Pobiedziska
Pobiedziska
Pobiedziska is a town in Poznań County, Poland, with 8,209 inhabitants as of the year 2004. It is also the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Pobiedziska.The town's name comes from the word pobieda meaning victory...

 in Poznań County
Poznan County
Poznań County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat is the city of Poznań, although the city...

, the player became the subject of interest from the Poland national football team
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...

 and applied for citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...

 of the country. Since his grandfather had never renounced Polish citizenship, according to Polish laws Obraniak's citizenship did not need to be granted by the Polish government but simply verified by the Masovian
Masovian Voivodeship
-Administrative division:Masovian Voivodeship is divided into 42 counties : 5 city counties and 37 "land counties"...

 voivode. Obraniak was confirmed as a Polish citizen on June 5, 2009.

On 23 July 2009, he was officially called up to the Poland team by coach Leo Beenhakker
Leo Beenhakker
Leo Beenhakker is an international Dutch football coach, who is the current Sports Director of Újpest FC.- Coaching career :...

 for the squad's friendly against Greece
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...

, where Obraniak scored the only two goals in the match making the final score a 2–0 victory for Poland.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 12 August 2009 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 
1-0
2-0
Friendly match
2. 12 August 2009 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 
2-0
2-0
Friendly match
3. 12 October 2010 Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 
2-1
2-2
Friendly match
4. 17 November 2010 Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 
2-1
3-1
Friendly match

Club

OSC Lille
  • Ligue 1
    Ligue 1
    Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

    : 2011
    2010–11 Ligue 1
    The 2010–11 Ligue 1 season was the 73rd since its establishment. Entering the season, Marseille were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 21 May 2010 and the season began on 7 August and ended on 29 May 2011. The winter break was in effect between 23 December and 15 January 2011...

  • Coupe de France
    Coupe de France
    The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...

    : 2011
    2011 Coupe de France Final
    The 2011 Coupe de France Final was the 93rd final of France's most prestigious football cup competition. The final took place on 14 May 2011 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and was contested between Paris Saint-Germain and Lille...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK