Cracovia have an unfair advantage when it comes to winning football games.
The Stripes are backed by a higher power, having been Pope John Paul II’s favourite club when he was alive (as well as Richard Keys, according to a dubious Wikipedia entry).
So it should come as little surprise that Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek has hit the ground running in Serie A following his move from Cracovia to Genoa in the summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus was meant to be the talk of Serie A this season.
But Piatek has comprehensively upstaged Ronny by tucking in eight goals in his first six league appearances.
In that same time frame Ronaldo has scored three times, netting twice against Sassuolo and once against Frosinone.
Piatek’s goalscoring feats have seen him follow Andriy Shevchenko into the Serie A record books for netting five times in his first four games.
All the signs were there when Piatek scored four goals on his competitive debut for Genoa in a Coppa Italia thrashing of Lecce.
The 23-year-old has scored in every Genoa appearance since, with his current streak spanning seven games and counting.
He was the first player across Europe’s top five leagues to reach ten goals in all competitions.
Piatek’s only blank came on his Poland debut, in which he played 61 minutes against Ireland.
As recently as 2015 Piatek was playing in the second tier of Polish football, scoring eight goals in 30 appearances for Zaglebie Lubin.
A 21-goal campaign for Cracovia last season saw him included in Poland’s preliminary World Cup squad, but he was cut when Adam Nawalka named his final 23 players.
Now, amidst talk of a move to Juevntus, he’s jumped ahead of Robert Lewandowski as Poland’s most prolific striker.
No wonder they’re calling him the Polish Amr Zaki*.
*No one is calling him that, but we’re keen to get it going
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