18-year-old Eryk Sobków, a graduate of BKS Bobrzanie Bolesławiec and currently a Zagłębie Lubin player, earned his first call-up to Poland’s U-16 football national team two years earlier through consistent work in training and league matches. The team was then coached by Robert Wójcik.

The young Zagłębie player has now been called up to the U-18 national team for the Federation Cup 2015 tournament in Latvia. Earlier, he took part in the national team’s training camp in Serbia. During the camp, he scored a goal in the national team’s match against Romania. Poland’s U-18 national team is coached by Rafał Janas. In their first match of the tournament in Latvia, the young Poles defeated Georgia 1–0 (Szymon Walczak scored from a penalty). Eryk played for 73 minutes against Georgia. At the Latvian tournament, Poland will also face Latvia (25 March at 3:00 p.m.) and Ukraine (27 March at 11:00 a.m.).

I achieved everything through hard work

Eryk Sobków began his football journey at the age of six. A turning point for him was travelling for trials at the OSSM Miedź Legnica football academy when he was 12. Even then, he stood out physically, athletically and technically, which resulted in the best trial performance and him joining the Legnica club. After successful performances in the Lower Silesian Junior League, Eryk received offers to join the academies of Legia Warszawa, Zagłębie Lubin and Śląsk Wrocław.

Ultimately, after spending two years in Legnica, he chose Zagłębie Lubin. From 2012, the Bolesławiec native, playing as a centre-forward, represented the club’s senior junior team from the capital of the Copper Basin. Zagłębie has now extended the footballer’s contract, and he plays for the first team, which is fighting to return to the Ekstraklasa. Asked how he managed to achieve all this, he modestly replies: I try. I achieved everything through hard work.

Updated 2015-03-25, 5:00 p.m.

The Latvia–Poland match ended in a 1–1 draw. Eryk Sobków played the second half of the match. More information about the match is available at www.90minut.pl