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‘The Hooligans Were the Club’

Maciek Nabrdalik for The New York Times

MYSLENICE, Poland — The dark, uneven soil at Wisla Krakow’s training facility in this village 40 minutes south of Poland’s second largest city was frozen solid last month as a few hundred supporters trudged through the snow to greet Jakub Blaszczykowski.

Blaszczykowski, a 33-year-old midfielder, has played in some of soccer’s biggest matches, including the 2013 Champions League final as a member of Borussia Dortmund, two European championships, and a World Cup with Poland’s national team.

But on this January afternoon, Blaszczykowski was a long way from those moments.