Oliwier Zych

Biography

Oliwier "Oli" Zych (born 28 June 2004) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ekstraklasa club Raków Częstochowa, on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa. Zych is a product of the Aston Villa Academy, having spent time as a junior in the academies of Arka Gdynia and Zagłębie Lubin in his native Poland. He has appeared internationally at youth level for Poland at multiple levels, most recently for their U21 side. He was called up to the Poland senior team's provisional squad for UEFA Euro 2024, but withdrew due to injury. In 2019, Zych was named in the Poland U15 squad that was invited to join the 2019 South American U-15 Championship, however Poland ultimately withdrew from the tournament. On 7 February 2023, Zych was called up to a Poland U19 training camp for the first time, going on to captain the team in a 3–2 friendly victory over Czech Republic. On 26 June 2023, he was named in the Poland U19 squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. In May 2024, Zych received his first under-21 call-up for a friendly against North Macedonia on 1 June 2024. Later that month, Zych received his first call-up to the senior team, being named in Poland's provisional squad for UEFA Euro 2024. His debut for the under-21 side only lasted twelve minutes – he was substituted in the 57th minute after picking up an injury while conceding the second goal in a 1–2 loss, which ruled him out of the tournament.