"A Great Footballer - Janusz Kupcewicz, a member of the Polish national team, a participant in the World Cup in 1978 and 1982, and later a coach, football activist, and local government activist, has passed away," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote in a Facebook post.
"I remember the excitement of watching his matches. He was a great midfielder. In total, he played 20 matches for the Polish national team and scored 5 goals. The most important one, in a game against France at the World Cup, gave the red-and-whites third place at that event. May he rest in peace."
The news of Kupcewicz's death was shared on social media by the former Polish Football Association head, Zbigniew Boniek.
"I received the news of Janusz Kupcewicz's death. One of the best Polish midfielders. A few days ago we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the World Cup medal in Spain together. Amazing. R.I.P." - Boniek wrote on Twitter.
Both played on July 10, 1982, in Alicante in a match against France for third place in the World Cup. The Poles won 3-2, and the third goal for the Polish team was scored by Kupcewicz with a shot from a free kick.
Kupcewicz was born on December 9, 1955, in the Polish port city of Gdańsk. He made his debut in Poland’s Ekstraklasa top professional football league in 1974 with Arka Gdynia, then played for Lech Poznań, with whom he won the Polish championship in 1983.
From 1983 to 1985 he was a player for France's Saint-Etienne and later played for Greece's Larissa, Poland’s Lechia Gdańsk, and Turkey's Adanaspor, where he ended his football career in 1989.
He played 20 games for the Polish national team from 1976 to 1983, scoring five goals.
As a coach, he worked with the Polish indoor football national team (1993-1994), at Lechia Gdańsk (1995), and was an assistant coach of the youth national team (1999-2001).
He played at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where Poland won third place.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP