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A very famous imigrant from
POLAND
to
GERMANY
LUKAS PODOLSKI
He is a German football player
who plays as a striker for Köln
and is a member of the
German national team.
Volkshochschule für den Landkreis Regen
Personal background
•
Podolski was born as Lukasz Podolski on 4 June 1985 to Krystyna
Podolska, a former member of the Polish national handball team and
Waldemar Podolski, former Polish football professional, in the Silesian
industrial town of Gliwice (near Katowice), Poland.
•
In 1987, when Lukasz Podolski was two years old, his family emigrated
from Poland to West Germany and got the status as Aussiedler, but
Podolski said in 2008 that he has Polish blood in him.
•
Podolski grew up in Bergheim, North Rhine-Westfalia, and later in
Pulheim, both near Cologne. He still has Polish citizenship, but he
travels with a German passport.
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Career as a football star
•
Podolski began playing football at the age of six in
the youth team of FC Bergheim, where he played
until he joined Köln in 1995. It was there where
Podolski's talents were first noticed
•
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
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Career as a football star
•
In 2006, clubs such as Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen and even
Real Madrid manifested their interest in Podolski, even though he had
a contract with 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.
•
When Bayern brought in Italian striker Luca Toni, "Poldi" was moved down
the pecking order and received less playing time due to the coach's
preference to partner Klose and Toni together instead. After a rather
unhappy season at Bayern, he returned to former club Köln on 1 July
2009
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Clubs
• 1. FC Cologne
2003 – 2006
• Bayern Munich
2006 - 2009
• 1. FC Cologne
since the beginning of 2009
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International Career
•
In late 2003, after several impressive performances in his first few
Bundesliga games, Polish media suggested then-Polish national team
coach Pawel Janas to 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 don't see a reason to call up a
player just because he played one or two good
matches in the Bundesliga."
•
But as the season progressed more and more German
media started to suggest to call up the striker to their
national team.
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International Career
•
At the end of the season Köln were relegated, but Podolski impressed so
much, that he celebrated his debut for Rudi Völler’s Germany on 6 June
2004 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
•
Podolski was selected in the Germany squad for the 2006 World Cup,
where he partnered Miroslav Klose in attack
•
His three goals in the tournament tied him for second in the Golden Boot
competition, which was won by his teammate Miroslav Klose with five
goals. Podolski was tied with Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Fernando Torres,
David Villa, and FIFA World Cup MVP (winner of the Golden Ball)
Zinedine Zidane. Podolski was named the World Cup's Best Young
Player before Messi and Christiano Ronaldo.