A-League football: Wellington Phoenix striker Oskar Zawada’s baby gamble pays off in crucial victory

Oskar Zawada of the Phoenix. Photo / Photosport

When Wellington Phoenix striker Oskar Zawada said goodbye to his wife last Thursday to head to Auckland, he knew he was taking a big chance.

Patricia Zawada was due to give birth on Saturday, ahead of the Phoenix game versus Sydney FC on Sunday at Eden Park, which led to a nervous few days for the couple.

While preparing for a crucial match — with the Phoenix in the finals hunt — he was also mentally ready to make an emergency dash back to the capital for the arrival of their first child.

“I was ready to wake up in the night and then fly home to support my wife,” said Zawada. “But she didn’t wake me up.”

Although it wasn’t an ideal situation, coach Ufuk Talay said it had been handled well.

“It was quite calm,” said Talay. “He was in dialogue all the time. He stayed, he was focused, he wanted to play, which is very important to us.”

The decision was justified with Zawada’s decisive first half goal in the 1-0 win, his ninth in the past 10 matches.

In a short time the Polish import has become the most important player in Talay’s squad and one of the most effective recruits in recent years.

“He’s the type of striker that I’ve been looking for since day one at this club,” said Talay.

Zawada is likely to be missing for Friday’s clash in Adelaide, with the team due to depart for Australia on Wednesday afternoon.

“Maybe now during [the next] two or three days, the baby will come out,” said Zwada. “Now is the time for it. So we will see.”

Zawada will never forget his first experience at Eden Park.

He scored a brilliant header — a goal he described as “very beautiful” — and had his father watching on from the grandstand, then saluting him at halftime with a Polish flag. “I know how much [my parents] suffered to invest in me,” said Zawada. “So I’m very happy to make him proud.”

Wellington striker Oskar Zawada scores a header. Photo / Photosport

The 27-year-old is having the season of his life, having adapted to the A-League superbly, after a transient career across eight different clubs in Germany, Poland, Holland and South Korea.

He credits the squad — “it is a team sport” — but his success is also the product of intense focus and self motivation.

Zawada is always one of the first to arrive at training and invariably the last to leave — as he completes extras — and club insiders have been impressed by the work ethic of the marquee recruit.

“It’s not luck that I’m always in the position to score,” said Zwada. “I know I have good vision on the pitch to know where I should [be] to receive the balls and it’s good the players see this.

“Also what’s important is that after [scoring] four goals in a row, you still have to turn off the head. Turn off everything and just focus on the next day because the line in football between being good or being bad is very [small].”

Zawada went straight to the airport after Sunday’s match, with the rest of the Phoenix squad due to return to Wellington on Monday morning.

Talay described Sunday’s performance as “patchy”, with the team going for the safe option a bit too much, when there were better options in the final third.

But he was thrilled with the result, and another positive experience at Eden Park, extending the club’s unbeaten run to 10 matches since 2011 at the Auckland venue.

But he ruled out returning for a playoff match, should the Phoenix finish in the top four and earn a home final.

“No,” said Talay. “We [would play] in Wellington.”