Kamil Jóźwiak, Charlotte FC are both in the midst of a refreshing resurgence
Kamil Jóźwiak was talking about his post-goal celebrations with his fellow countryman and Charlotte FC teammate Karol Świderski the other day — and all the two of them could do was laugh.
“Sometimes I can’t control myself after scoring goals,” the blonde-topped winger recounted saying to his Polish teammate. He then smiled: “I don’t know what I’m doing with the celebrations.”
After scoring the game’s only goal on Tuesday, Jóźwiak didn’t need to know what he was doing.
Everyone else in attendance had seen what he had done.
Jóźwiak scored in the 70th minute of Charlotte FC’s 1-0 win against Orlando City SC in the team’s Round of 32 U.S. Open Cup contest on Tuesday evening. The sold-out crowd of 5,000 people at Sportsplex in Matthews watched as the winger chased down a loose ball, pinballed through two defenders and then fully extended to touch the ball past the goalkeeper.
The goal personified grit and hunger and joy, and it marked a story line that continues to bear fruit as the Charlotte FC season embarks on its summer stretch.
And that story line is this: Jóźwiak, Charlotte’s versatile and resilient midfielder, is in the midst of a big resurgence.
“I work for myself,” Jóźwiak told reporters Tuesday. “Maybe last season wasn’t the best for me, but I was always working so hard to come back to my best play. Maybe the last two, three years weren’t the best for me. But I know I’m back, and I’m so happy to again be scoring goals, to be assisting my teammates, and to be especially winning games.”
Jóźwiak joined the Queen City side in March 2022. The former English Championship player signed a Designated Player contract at the time — meaning he was one of three players the club spent a lot of money on to acquire and maintain.
With that DP title came expectations. High ones. Jóźwiak struggled to meet them in the team’s inaugural year: He notched three assists in 13 starts last season.
That has all changed this season, and it’s particularly changed since the month of April: In the five appearances across all competitions he’s made since April 1, Jóźwiak has notched four goals and two assists and five shots on goal for Charlotte FC.
A brief lower leg injury in late April sidelined Jóźwiak for a little over a week — right in the middle of his heater.
That didn’t derail him from having a great return Tuesday night.
“I was injured in my good time,” he said. “Last time here I scored, and then I was injured, so I was a bit worried how I’d be after the injury. But I’m happy to be back and happy to help my team, you know?”
Head coach Christian Lattanzio could tell Jóźwiak was a bit angry and quite hungry — “Hangry?” Lattanzio suggested with a smile — to get back onto the pitch on Tuesday night. (The coach subbed him in just past the 60 minute mark because Monday was Jóźwiak’s first full day of training with the team after his injury.)
“I thought in the first half, I said to the boys, ‘We are playing good football, but we are soft,’” Lattanzio said. “Particularly in the last third, I didn’t like the way we were playing. We were just crossing the ball, but it looked like we had no conviction. I didn’t like that. So that’s what I (said) to the guys when they came on.
“I didn’t need to have this kind of talk with Kamil. Because I’d seen it in his eyes. You could tell from the eyes. And the goal he scored was exactly what I meant. I went to the guys on the bench and said, ‘This is what I meant. This kind of fight.’ You might score, you might not score, but generally in life, when you work hard, things happen for you. You become lucky.”
Lattanzio said that he’d heard the negativity directed at Jóźwiak after the squad’s inaugural season, and he said he is quite happy to see Jóźwiak play at the level Lattanzio always knew the winger was capable of.
“People talk too much,” the coach said. “People, they don’t understand, and they talk too much. … I mean, they can have a go at me, no problem. But the players, they have to respect. And if they don’t see the quality in this player, they shouldn’t talk, because Kamil is a guy who has many qualities that, in my experience in Europe, are very appealing to the top leagues.
“He runs. He fights. He’s gritty. He can score goals. He can defend. He can be a complete winger who can be very appealing for many teams.”
The path of one of Charlotte FC’s premier players has mirrored that of the club itself this season. The club began the season with a loud optimism — a product of some high-profile offseason signings like Ashley Westwood and Enzo Copetti — and then started out with three straight losses.
Things have slowly changed since: Charlotte (3 wins, 5 losses, 3 ties) has now tied once and won twice in its past four MLS regular season matches. One of those league wins was against New York City FC, which is one of the better teams in the MLS Eastern Conference. (It’s worth noting, too, that these records don’t take into account Charlotte’s two wins in as many weeks in the U.S. Open Cup — where the team has persevered despite an injury-plagued defense and a bunch of off-the-field issues and attrition.)
Jóźwiak’s emergence is a big reason for this recent success.
The winger did more than score on Tuesday. He drew a free kick in the 79th minute. He ripped another promising shot on goal in the 83rd. He completed a clutch tackle in the defending third to stop what could’ve been a promising Orlando equalizing chance in the 88th minute.
But the goal is what will remain in his memory.
After his shot dribbled into the back of the net in the 70th minute of brilliance, Jóźwiak spread out his hands and sprinted toward the loud, flag-waving, water-spraying crowd. His arms were wide. So was his smile.
He might not have known what he was doing in that celebratory moment. But it’s hard to forget all he had done to get there.
This story was originally published May 10, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
