Full name Euzebiusz Smolarek Name Euzebiusz Smolarek Parents Wlodzimierz Smolarek Place of birth Lodz, Poland Role Footballer Children Messi Smolarek | Playing position Height 1.78 m Siblings Mariusz Smolarek 1993–2000 Feyenoord Salary 100,000 EUR (2012) | |
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Date of birth (1981-01-09) 9 January 1981 (age 34) Current team Feyenoord (Youth Manager) Similar People Wlodzimierz Smolarek, Jacek Krzynowek, Maciej Zurawski, Ireneusz Jelen, Jacek Bak | ||
Euzebiusz Smolarek by Muminek Bambo
Euzebiusz "Ebi" Smolarek ([ɛu̯ˈzɛbjuʂ smɔˈlarɛk]; born 9 January 1981) is a former Polish footballer who is currently Youth manager at Dutch club Feyenoord.
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He played primarily as a striker or winger, representing clubs in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, England, Greece, Poland and Qatar.
Smolarek played 47 times for the Polish national football team, scoring 20 goals, the joint-tenth most in the nation's history. He was part of the Polish squads at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008.
Club career
Born in Łódź, Smolarek grew up in the Netherlands, where his father, Włodzimierz Smolarek, played in the Eredivisie and later worked as a coach. Smolarek went through the Feyenoord youth system and made it all the way to the first team.
On 24 August 2007, Smolarek signed with Racing de Santander for a reported €4.8 million.
On 29 August 2008, Racing loaned Smolarek to Bolton Wanderers for the season, with a view to signing him permanently. Smolarek's debut for his new club came as the team lost 3–1 to Arsenal on 20 September 2008.
On 3 January 2009, Smolarek scored his first, and only, goal for Bolton in the FA Cup 3rd Round match away to Sunderland but at the end of the season the club decided not to make his loan permanent. On 10 August 2009 he was released by Racing.
Despite some interest from Bundesliga clubs at the start of the 2009–10 season, Smolarek signed on 14 December 2009 for Kavala F.C. until 30 June 2012. On 25 July 2010, he and the club agreed to cancel his contract by mutual consent. He signed a two-year contract with Polonia Warsaw on 27 July 2010. On 29 July 2011, Smolarek agreed to cancel his contract with Polonia due to his financial expectations.
Smolarek also played for Ekstraklasa side Jagiellonia Białystok.
International career
A Polish international since 2002, Smolarek was selected for the 2006 FIFA World Cup but failed to score any goals.
He was Poland's (and group A's) top scorer in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying scoring nine goals, beating Cristiano Ronaldo. Smolarek scored a hat-trick against Kazakhstan in Warsaw. He played all of the nation's matches in Switzerland and Austria, as Poland exited in the group stages.
In a memorable feat, he was the first Pole to score a goal against Portugal in 20 years, the previous one being his father. Impressively, he scored both goals in a 2–1 win in a Euro 2008-qualifying match.
On 1 April 2009, Smolarek scored four goals against San Marino. This made him top goal scorer for group three and tied him with Belgium's Wesley Sonck for second highest goal scorer for the European Zone of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification.
Personal
Smolarek is the son of another Polish international, Włodzimierz Smolarek. He was named after Portuguese footballer Eusébio. With his Dutch fiancée Thirza van Giessen he has a son (b. 27 April 2010), named Mees (for some time it was believed he named him Messi after Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi; the actual name Mees is an old Dutch name, and does not have anything to do with Messi).