^ "Player Profile". FIFA. Archived from the original on 29 January 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2012. ^ a b "Lukas Podolski: Eurosport". Retrieved 30 April 2012. ^ Whitney, Clark. "Why Germany owe a lot to Poland-born Miroslav Klose & Lukas Podolski". Goal. com. Retrieved 8 December 2019. ^ Munday, Billy (30 July 2018). "The Three Sides of Lukas Podolski: international legend, hometown hero and club enigma". These Football Times. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
[31] On 17 November, Podolski scored his fourth League goal as Arsenal defeated Tottenham 5–2 in the North London derby. [32] He then helped Arsenal qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League by scoring the second goal as Arsenal beat Montpellier 2–0. [33] Podolski then played a pivotal part in an impressive 5–2 win away from home against Reading at the Madejski Stadium, scoring the first goal and assisting 2 more, which had helped teammate Santi Cazorla to score his first ever hat-trick. On 30 December 2012, Podolski played an integral part of the team that beat Newcastle 7–3. His first contribution was an incisive pass to Theo Walcott for Arsenal's first goal.
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[edit] 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.
[97] Podolski grew up in Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, and later in Pulheim, both near Cologne. [98] Podolski possesses dual citizenship, both German and Polish, but has stated that he does not have a Polish passport. [99][100][101] In an interview Podolski said that the Polish Football Association never cared about him until he started playing for the German under-21 team and received coverage in the media. At that point, Podolski had already decided to play for Germany, but nevertheless "there are two hearts beating" in his chest.
[99] Podolski speaks Polish and sometimes communicated with Bayern Munich and Germany strike partner Miroslav Klose, also a Polish-born Aussiedler, in Polish to hinder their opposition's understanding of their conversation. [102] Podolski is a fan of KS Górnik Zabrze, a football team based 10 kilometres (6. 2 mi) from his place of birth. [103] In April 2011, Podolski married his longtime girlfriend Monika Puchalski in Cologne, Germany. [104] They had a church wedding in Kamionna, Węgrów County, Poland in June 2011. [105] They have a son born 14 April 2008[106][107] and a daughter, born 6 June 2016. [108] Podolski owns an ice cream parlour and a kebab shop in Cologne.
^ a b "Hero's farewell for Germany's Lukas Podolski in Dortmund". Eurosport. 21 March 2017. ^ "Lukas Podolski ignores Oliver Bierhoff criticism to move higher in Germany's scoring list". ITV. 30 May 2013. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014. ^ "International: Germany scored four goals inside 25 minutes to beat Ecuador 4–2". Sky Sports. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2014. ^ "FC Köln 2003-04". Skladyfutbol. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
[109] On 30 June 2021, Podolski was announced as a judge for the 15th season of Das Supertalent, the German version of Got Talent. He will become the first association football player to judge any version of the franchise owned by Simon Cowell. [110] See also[edit] List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps References[edit] ^ "Lukas Josef Podolski".
In addition, due to Newcastle's failure to clear the ball off their line, Podolski pounced on a header for his last goal of 2012. He was substituted for Aaron Ramsey to a standing ovation. [34] On 23 January 2013, Podolski produced an impressive performance as Arsenal beat West Ham 5–1, scoring one goal and setting up three others. On 2 February 2013, Podolski scored the only goal via a deflected free-kick to earn the Gunners a 1–0 victory over Stoke City.
On 13 June 2010, Podolski, who had become accustomed to his position as a winger scored the first goal in Germany's 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 Vidić 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.
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. [72] Podolski was named in the 23-man squad as one of the players of the tournament along with countrymen Michael Ballack and Philipp Lahm.
He started in the 2014 FA Cup Final against Hull City and left the pitch for Yaya Sanogo after 61 minutes as Hull led Arsenal 1–2. Arsenal went on to win the game 3–2 after extra time, thereby ending the club's nine-year trophy drought. [46] 2014–15 season[edit] After winning the World Cup for Germany, Podolski and compatriots Per Mertesacker and Mesut Özil were excused by Arsenal from the 2014 Community Shield, which they won 3–0 against Manchester City. [47] In November, Podolski spoke about his unrest with his current role with Arsenal and his lack of game time, saying: "Of course I am not happy with my situation right now.
[41] However, he was injured in his next match in the Champions League qualifier against Fenerbahçe and was ruled out for 10 weeks. [42] Podolski returned for Arsenal against West Ham United in a 3–1 win on Boxing Day, scoring the team's third goal in the 79th minute. [43] Podolski netted his first two goals in 2014 with a brace in a 4–0 FA Cup fourth round win over Coventry City. [44] He later scored in a 2–1 FA Cup win over Liverpool in February to send Arsenal through to the quarter-finals of the competition. [45] Podolski scored two goals in March as he began to feature more regularly in the Gunners starting line-up.