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Name Lukas Podolski
Lukas Josef Podolski (Born on 4 June 1985) is a German footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Arsenal and the Germany national team. He is a left-footed attacker known for his strong shot, technique and probing attacks from the left side.
After joining 1. FC Köln in 1995 where he broke into the first team in 2003 and made 81 appearances for the club before moving to FC Bayern Munich. With Bayern, Podolski won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2008. Podolski returned to 1. FC Köln in 2009.
He later signed for Premier League club Arsenal FC in 2012. Although he was eligible to play for Germany and Poland, Podolski chose to play for Germany. He was first capped by Germany in 2004 and has been part of the squad in all major tournaments since then. He is currently the fifth highest goalscorer in the history of his country, having scored 46 times.
On 29 May 2013, Podolski scored the fastest goal in the Germany national teams history in a 4–2 friendly win over Ecuador when he scored nine seconds after kick-off. Podolskis goal was also the second fastest international goal in history. Only San Marinos Davide Gualtieris strike against England at the 8.3 second mark in 1993 was faster.
Podolski with Germany in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lukas Josef Podolski | ||
| Date of birth | 4 June 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Gliwice, Poland | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Arsenal | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1995 | FC 07 Bergheim | ||
| 1995–2003 | 1. FC Köln | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003 | 1. FC Köln II | 2 | (0) |
| 2003–2006 | 1. FC Köln | 81 | (46) |
| 2006–2009 | Bayern Munich | 71 | (15) |
| 2007–2008 | Bayern Munich II | 2 | (0) |
| 2009–2012 | 1. FC Köln | 88 | (33) |
| 2012– | Arsenal | 53 | (19) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001–2002 | Germany U17 | 6 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | Germany U18 | 7 | (4) |
| 2003 | Germany U19 | 3 | (6) |
| 2004 | Germany U21 | 5 | (0) |
| 2004– | Germany | 112 | (46) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:57, 11 May 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Club career
FC Köln
Podolski playing for Köln in 2006
Podolski began playing football at the age of six in the youth team of FC Bergheim, where he played until he joined 1. FC Köln in 1995. It was there that Podolskis talents were first noticed. In 2003, at the age of 18, Podolski was still part of the clubs youth side. At this time the club found itself in dire straits battling to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga. First team boss Marcel Koller, working on a shoestring budget, invited Podolski to train with the senior players and he made his top flight debut shortly afterwards on 22 November 2003. Even though Köln failed to avoid a drop to the 2nd division, Podolski had shown what he could do, scoring 10 goals in his first 19 senior appearances. This was the best tally by an 18-year-old in the history of the Bundesliga.
Though his call up to the German Euro 2004 squad brought along interest from several top clubs, Podolski stayed at Köln to help the club gain promotion in the 2004–05 season. With 24 goals, Podolski advanced to become the leagues best scorer. Somewhat unusually, Podolski remained part of the Germany squad, even though he did not play in the national top-tier league.
After Köln were promoted, the pressure was on Podolski to keep the club in the Bundesliga practically singlehandedly. Podolski managed to score 12 goals in the 2005–06 season, but eventually, Köln were relegated again. It became clear that Podolski would not stay again to push them through the 2006–07 season—even more so, as Podolski was becoming an integral part of the national team.
FC Bayern Munich
In 2006, clubs such as Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, and Real Madrid manifested their interest in Podolski, even though he had a contract with 1. FC Köln through 2007. On 1 June 2006, Podolski announced that a transfer agreement had been reached with Bayern Munich, allowing him to join the Bavarian side for the 2006–07 season. Financial details of the deal were not immediately available, but the transfer fee was speculated to be around €10 million. He made his Bundesliga debut for Bayern on 11 August 2006, coming on as a substitute in the 88th minute of a 2–0 victory against Borussia Dortmund. On 9 September 2006, he came on as a second half substitute in a DFB-Pokal game versus FC St. Pauli. Only 26 seconds after the second half started, he scored the equaliser, evening the match 1–1. On 14 October 2006, with his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern, Podolski helped to secure the clubs 4–2 win over Hertha BSC. On 26 October 2006, Podolski suffered a serious injury to his right ankle joint caused by teammate, Mark van Bommel, during a training session. Consequently, Podolski missed more than five match weeks. He returned from this injury and scored against Alemannia Aachen.
After Bayern bought in Italian striker Luca Toni in 2007, Podolski received less playing time due to coach Ottmar Hitzfelds preference to partner Miroslav Klose and Toni together instead. However, Bayern ended the 2007–08 season by winning a league and cup double, giving Podolski the first major silverware of his career.
Despite former national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann taking charge of Bayern for the 2008–09 season, Podolski again failed to break into the teams regular first choice line-up. After a rather unhappy spell at Bayern, he returned to former club Köln on 1 July 2009.
Return to 1. FC Köln
After Podolski was assured by national team coach Joachim Löw that a return to FC Köln would not harm his chances of international football, an agreement to sign him was agreed between Bayern Munich and Köln on 20 January 2009, although he would not return to Köln until the start of the summer transfer window. On 1 July, Podolski returned to Köln on a four-year contract, and the transfer is speculated to be around €10 million, equivalent to the fee Bayern paid to sign him in 2006.Köln created a website where people were able to buy pixels of an image of Lukas Podolski for €25 per 8x8 pixel square, in order to gather €1 million to reduce the cost of the transfer. Formula One driver and Köln supporter Michael Schumacher bought several pixels of Podolskis picture for nearly €900.
International career
International debut and breakthrough
Fig : Podolski in action for Germany in 2009
In late 2003, after several impressive performances in his first few Bundesliga games, Polish media suggested then-Polish national team coach Pawe? Janas should check Podolski out, as he was still eligible to play for Poland. Janas ignored the request stating in one of the press interviews that "as for today we have much better strikers in Poland and I dont see a reason to call up a player just because he played one or two good matches in the Bundesliga. Hes not even a regular starter at his club." By that time Podolski was still interested in representing Poland, but as the season progressed German media increasingly highlighted his performances to suggest he should be called up to the German national team. When his full potential was finally unveiled, he had already decided to represent Germany. At the end of the season Köln were relegated, but Podolski impressed so much, that he held his debut for Rudi Völlers Germany on 6 June 2004, at age 19, in Kaiserslautern against Hungary with a late substitute appearance. He had become the first second-division player since 1975 to break into the national team.
Euro 2004
Podolski seen warming up before a Germany match in 2011
Podolski played for Germany at Euro 2004, where he was the squads youngest player. He made one substitute appearance in the game against the Czech Republic, when he came on for Torsten Frings at half-time.
2006 World Cup
Podolski was selected in the Germany squad for the 2006 World Cup, where he partnered Miroslav Klose as the attack duo in the starting lineup. He scored his first ever World Cup goal in Germanys third group match against Ecuador, and both goals in the 2–0 win over Sweden in the round of 16. He became the first player since 1962 to score two goals in the first 12 minutes of a World Cup match and only the third player ever to accomplish the feat.[citation needed] Germany finished third in the tournament, and while his teammate Miroslav Klose won the Golden Boot competition, Podolskis three goals tied him for second place with Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Maxi Rodríguez, Hernán Crespo and Zinedine Zidane. Podolski was named the World Cups Best Young Player ahead of players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Euro 2008
In a Euro 2008 qualifying game against San Marino in Serravalle Podolski netted four goals in Germanys record 13–0 thrashing. He is one of only four German players to score four goals in an international match. He was the third after Gerd Müller and Michael Ballack, and since this, Mario Gómez has accomplished this feat. In Germanys 4–1 win against Slovakia in Bratislava on 11 October 2006, he scored the first and the last German goal, both on assists by Miroslav Klose. He has continued to score goals at an astonishing rate. On 17 November 2007, in a Euro qualifier match against Cyprus, Podolski was involved in every goal in Germanys 4–0 victory. This was one of Podolskis best performances for the national team. Even though he played out of his natural position, playing at left midfield, he netted one goal himself and was voted Man of the Match.
On 8 June 2008, Podolski made his Euro 2008 entrance against debutants Poland in a Group B match in Klagenfurt, Austria. He scored both goals in a 2–0 victory. He avoided celebrating his goals, however, to show respect for his country of birth. After the game he gave an emotional interview on Polish television. The goals put him in the lead in the Euro 2008 goal-scoring list for two days until David Villa scored a hat-trick for Spain against Russia.
On 12 June, Germany played Croatia in their second Group B match, again in Klagenfurt. Podolski scored the German teams only goal of the game in the 79th minute, by which time the Croatians were already leading 2–0. He did not celebrate this goal either despite it putting him joint first on the Euro 2008 goal-scoring list with David Villa. Podolskis goal was not enough to snatch a draw, with Croatia holding out for a 2–1 victory over Germany. On 19 June, Germany played Portugal in the quarterfinal in Basel, Podolski was instrumental in the first goal, whipping a cross into the penalty box that was slotted home by Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 22nd minute to give Germany a 1–0 lead.
On the international scene, Podolski seems to be gravitating towards an attacking left midfield role from his traditional place as a striker. Initially, Löw had moved him to the wing in order to accommodate the partnership of Klose and Mario Gómez up front. When this backfired, he resumed his forward position in the UEFA Euro 2008 Final, but was unable to prevent Germany losing 1–0 to Spain. In a controversial incident, Podolski was headbutted by Spanish midfielder David Silva, although this went unnoticed by the referee and his assistants, and went unpenalised. Lukas Podolski was named in the 23-man squad as one of the players of the tournament along with countrymen Michael Ballack and Philipp Lahm.
2010 World Cup
On 6 September 2008, Podolski scored the opening two goals in Germanys first 2010 World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein in Vaduz; a match that ended in a 6–0 victory for the Germans. He scored the opener in the 2–1 home win over Russia on 11 October, when he turned Vasili Berezutski on the edge of the penalty area, before unleashing a powerful shot past Russias goalkeeper Akinfeev. He finished the qualification campaign second highest scorer of Group 4 with six goals, behind teammate Miroslav Kloses 7. During one of the qualifying matches, he was involved in a bust-up with team captain Michael Ballack.
On 13 June 2010, Podolski, who had become accustomed to his position as a winger scored the first goal in Germanys World Cup opening game in a 4–0 win against Australia, before assisting teammate Thomas Müller for the third goal. On 18 June, Podolski missed a second-half penalty after a handling infraction committed by Nemanja Vidi? in the 1–0 loss to Serbia. The German team had gone down to 10-men after a second yellow was shown to Miroslav Klose in the 36th minute. Even though the Germans played with 10-men throughout the rest of the game, Podolski had numerous chances on goal. However he was unable to capitalize, and the game ended in a surprise defeat for the Germans. However, he managed to score against England in the last 16, giving Germany a 2–0 advantage in the first half. They went on to beat England 4–1. In the quarter-final against Argentina, Podolski provided the assist for the first of Kloses two goals, bringing the score to 2–0. The Germans won the match 4–0.
Podolski playing for Germany at Euro 2012
Euro 2012
During qualification, Podolski provided assists for three goals and scored three times, helping Germany to win all ten matches of their qualification campaign. During Euro 2012, Podolski started all three of Germanys Group B games, the third being his 100th appearance for Germany; a game in which he also scored. Podolskis last game at Euro 2012 was against the Italian national team in the semi-finals where Germany were defeated 2–1.
Having 112 caps, Podolski ranks third in appearances for Germany.
