 He started having recurrent injuries in the fall of 1978, and despite repeated surgeries, he had to retire from professional soccer in 1984.In 1985, he emigrated to the United States where he played semi-pro soccer at the Polish-American Eagles as well as performing manual labor jobs (like trimming trees around high-voltage power lines).In 1990, he returned to Poland and started selling Trabant (East German) cars with Volkswagen engines until he received his coaching qualifications in 1995.