Youth Krakowiak was born in
Kielce, Poland. He moved to
Clifton, New Jersey with his family in 1993, and became a United States citizen in March 2000. He graduated from
Clifton High School in 1995 and is a member of the Clifton High School Hall of Fame. During his two seasons at Clifton, he scored seventy-nine goals, a school record. In the fall of 1995, he entered
St. John's University where a torn
anterior cruciate ligament led him to
redshirt his freshman season. In 1996, he was part of the Red Storm team which won the
NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship. He transferred to
Clemson University for his junior season where he scored thirty-one goals and added eight assists. That year, he was selected as an
All-American and won the
Hermann Trophy.
Professional Krakowiak left Clemson at the end of the season and moved to Europe where he had trials with teams in Belgium and Germany. On February 7, 1999, the
San Jose Clash selected Krakowiak in the second round (fifteenth overall) in the
1999 MLS College Draft. Krakowiak had dropped so low in the draft because his pursuit of a European career. He returned to the United States during the summer of 1999 to train with the Clash, but did not sign with them before returning to Europe to play in the German third division. He also played three games with the
Charleston Battery of the
USL A-League in August 1999. In February 2000, he signed with the
San Jose Earthquakes, playing two seasons before being waived on June 12, 2001. The
Tampa Bay Mutiny signed him on June 30, 2001. He played 75 minutes in an away game against the
Kansas City Wizards but was waived on July 20, 2001, to make room for
Danny Pena. In 2003 and 2004, he played for the
New Jersey Stallions in the
Premier Development League. ==Coaching career==