Goalkeeper Kinga Szemik is already a history maker. Keeping two clean sheets in Poland’s play-off tie with Austria back in December helped her country book their spot at their first-ever major tournament - UEFA Women’s Euro 2025.
Now she has the call-up to Nina Patalon’s squad for the tournament that will get underway on Wednesday 2 July. And while she will of course be targeting success in Switzerland, for the shot-stopper and her side, they are also determined to make a difference back home.
Szemik - who celebrates her 28th birthday on Wednesday 25 June - wants to be a role model for young girls in Poland and encourage the next generation to take up football, and not to perceive the sport as male-only. After all, she was once a girl with a dream.
Flashback 13 years ago, a then 15-year-old Szemik was tasting glory on the international stage, clinching the U17 Women’s Euro title following a victory against Sweden in the final. But little did that girl know she would later down the line step out with her country at their first-ever European finals. Szemik is a trailblazer.
“It’s our first major tournament we’ve qualified for, so I’m very happy to be able to go and I’m very excited for the team and myself,” said our No1, who played every Barclays Women’s Super League minute in her debut season at West Ham United. “I think it’s going to be a great, great time.
“The feeling once we’d qualified was hard to describe. Being in the first [national] team is the greatest honour, to represent your country, and when we were with the youth national team, we managed to win the European Championships.
“But for so long we couldn’t make this step, to qualify for a major tournament with the first team. So for us to do that, winning those two games and keeping the clean sheets, was something special, something huge. We were celebrating it so much.
“Up to that point, we were conceding goals, so it was great for those two games to happen. They were so important because when it counted, we delivered. That’s what it was all about, to keep going and keep working hard.
“This (inspiring children in Poland) is one of the major goals we’ve had along the way. Qualifying for the finals of the Euros was a big accomplishment, but it was all about what that was going to bring us in Poland. Hopefully it will help to make women’s football a bit more popular, and things will change in people’s minds, and they will stop perceiving sport as men’s-only.
“Finally the little girls will have it easier and they will be able to look for female role models, and not only men.”
Poland’s maiden match at a major tournament will see them kick-start their Group C campaign at AFG Arena in St. Gallen against Germany (Friday 4 July, kick-off 8pm BST), who fell to an extra-time 2-1 loss against England in the final of the 2022 edition of the competition.
They will then face Sweden (Tuesday 8 July, 8pm BST) in Lucerne at Swissporarena and then Denmark (Saturday 12 July, 8pm BST), which will also be played at Swissporarena.
When asked what the feeling will be like, standing in the AFG Arena tunnel ahead of their opening match against eight-time champions Germany, Szemik replied: “Oh wow!
“I think it will be very special, but I also think I will try to prepare for that game like any other game that I play because putting extra pressure or expectation on myself won’t help me perform better. I will focus on enjoying the moment at the same time.
“It’s the finals of the European Championships, so there’s no easy games or easy groups. You have to go and play each game like it’s all or nothing, and that’s how we will approach it.
"All of those teams [in our group] are very good teams, but we’ll try to do our best and I believe the team will leave everything we have on the pitch, and hopefully we’ll deliver.
“There’s a big group of my family who are coming to the Euros to see us play. It’s great, it’s a great country, it’s in the middle of the summer and they’re going there for us. I’m really excited to see them. I’m sure it’ll be a special moment for them as well because they’ve been along the way with me, they’ve seen me go through all of the steps to get to this point.”
UEFA Women's Euro 2025, the 14th edition of the tournament, will be held in Switzerland from 2-27 July, and be broadcast live in the UK by the BBC and ITV.
