Inter Milan: J.Zanetti Saved policemans life.

By Dave Eadevic
March 22 2004

A strange story was reported in todays Polish paper The Super Express, it was a story that dates back to 1998 and it involves a Polish police officer called Mareck Kopacz. The story goes that high ranking police officer Kopacz, from a small town to the north of Krakow, was investigating a criminal gang and began to recieve threats, his car was vandalised and so on.

Having seen England eliminate Poland from the World cup qualifying round, Kopacz decided to support Argentina on the night of the England Argentina game, in the final phases of France 98.

He watched as Batistuta give Argentina the lead, then Shearer and Owen turn things around for England before Beckham was sent off. The Polish police officer, glued to his TV set, didn't move an inch when his wife asked him to take the dog out for a walk. Kopacz also ignored another part of his daily routine: "Every day at ten o'clock in the evening I would go by car to the police station to check that everything was okay."

That evening the police officer remained in front of the television as extra time was about to begin. Then, around 22:00, he heard an explosion. Kopacz and his wife, who had returned home after taking the dog for a walk, ran to the window and saw their car on fire. The time bomb hadn't accounted for Argentina's will to fight for extra time.

"It was Boniek that first told me this story," said Javier Zanetti to Super Express. "Then I received a letter from Kopacz. It's incredible that my goal saved the person's life, but perhaps it's also the merit of my determination. I never give up and that evening I gave my all until the end, when I managed to score and make it 2-2. I would really like to meet Kopacz. Our lives have become intertwined without knowing it, but this also demonstrates the strength of football."


See sometimes football is a matter of life and death, discuss this or any other matters on our message board.

Bookmark or share this story with: