Bundesliga-Player Profle: Lukas Podolski
Podolski started off his professional football career in Poland but has earned most of his fame during his time in Germany. When Lukas was just two years old, his mother and his father migrated from Austria to West Germany. The young Austrian spent most of his youth in Bergheim which lies in North Rhine-Westphalia; later on he shifted to Pulheim near Cologne.
Podolski is a dual national because he holds both Polish and Germany nationality but the player himself has stated that he does not own a Polish passport, he also stated that the Polish F.A never approached him until he got famous while playing for the German U-21 national team. He said by the time Poland’s football association paid attention to him, his heart was already beating for Germany.
Podolski’s youth career was spent at F.C Bergheim but joined Koln in 1995. At Koln, Podolski matured as a player as well as a person. In 2003 when the youthful German was still a teenager Koln was battling a relegation war against their rivals in the Bundesliga. Koln’s Coach Marcel Koller spotted Lukas’s talents and gave him an opportunity to train with the first string squad at the club.
Podolski made his debut for Koln on 22nd of November, 2003 however he was still on a youth contract with the club rather than a professional one due to the financial troubles that Koln F.C was going through. The German club also failed to sustain their spot in the Bundesliga and therefore they were relegated to the 2nd division of German league football but Lukas had already shown what he was capable off as he scored ten goals in his first nineteen senior team appearances for Koln.
The Polish born youngster’s tally of 10 in 19 goals is still the best scoring record by an 18 year old in the history of Bundesliga. Podolski got selected for Germany’s national team squad for the European Championships which took place in 2004, this made him one of the most scouted players at the tournament but despite all the attention that was being focused on him, Lukas stayed with Koln to help them regain top flight status in the 2004-2005 season.
In the season that followed Euro 2004, Podolski scored twenty four goals and became second divisions top goal scorer. He also remained a part of Germany’s national squad. After Koln were promoted to Bundesliga, a lot of expectations surrounded the youngster to keep them there through some marvelous goal scoring exploits. However, Podolski buckled under the pressure and only managed 12 goals in the 2005-2006 season for Koln; therefore the German club faced relegation again. In the summer of 2006 clubs such as Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Bremen were after the young German striker’s services.
On 1st of June, 2006 it was revealed that a transfer fee had been agreed between Koln and Bayern Munich; the fee amounted to around ten million Euros. Podolski’s debut for Bayern Munich came in a Bundesliga match against Borussia Dortmund, when he was introduced as an 88th minute substitute. Lukas’s debut goal for the German giants came in a DFB Cup game versus St. Pauli during which he scored right after the second half started.
In his debut season at Bayern Munich, Podolski did well despite suffering a serious ankle injury which was caused in a training match accident. However, in 2008 when Luca Toni was bought by Munich, Podolski moved further down their striker pecking order and thus considered a move away from Germany’s most successful team in order to play more first team football.
On 1st of July, 2009 Podolski rejoined Koln, his childhood club. Podolski is more famous for his performances for the German national team, he played in the FIFA 2006 World Cup as well as in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, both times he ended the tournament was one of the brightest young talents.
Tags: