Lukas Podolski country of citizenship Germany
Lukas Josef Podolski (German pronunciation: [ˈluːkas poˈdɔlski]; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, Polish pronunciation: [ˈwukaʂ pɔˈdɔlskʲi], on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. Known for his powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive shot, technique and probing attacks from the left side.Podolski joined 1. FC Köln in 1995 where he made it into the first team in 2003 resulting in 81 appearances for the club before moving to 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 in 2012, with whom he won the FA Cup in 2014. He then moved on loan to Serie A club Inter Milan in January 2015, before signing six months later for Galatasaray where he also won the Turkish Cup of 2016.Podolski was eligible to play for Germany and Poland; he was open to playing for the Polish team but was rejected by then Polish coach Paweł Janas in 2003, having already appeared for Germany at youth level. After making his first appearance for the senior team in 2004, Podolski enjoyed great success with the Germany national team. He was part of the squad in seven major tournaments, winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He is the third most-capped player in German history, with 130 caps, and the third-highest goalscorer in German history, having scored 49 times.On 29 May 2013, Podolski scored the fastest goal in Germany national team history, after just nine seconds of the 4–2 friendly win over Ecuador. It was at that time the second fastest international goal in history, second only to San Marino's Davide Gualtieri's 8.3-second strike against England in 1993. Podolski retired from international football on 22 March 2017 after scoring the winner in a friendly against England.Personal life
Podolski was born to Waldemar Podolski and Krystyna Podolska in the Silesian industrial city of Gliwice near Katowice in Poland. Waldemar is a former footballer who played in Poland and Germany. Krystyna is a former member of the Poland national handball team.In 1987, when Podolski was two years old, his family emigrated from Poland to West Germany and were given Aussiedler status as a result of his paternal grandparents having German citizenship prior to World War II (Gliwice was a part of Germany until 1945 as Gleiwitz). Podolski grew up in Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, and later in Pulheim, both near Cologne.Podolski possesses dual citizenship, both German and Polish, but has stated that he does not have a Polish passport. 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. 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. Podolski is a fan of KS Górnik Zabrze, a football team based 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from his place of birth.In April 2011, Podolski married his longtime girlfriend Monika Puchalski in Cologne, Germany. They had a church wedding in Kamionna, Węgrów County, Poland in June 2011. They have a son born 14 April 2008 and a daughter, born 6 June 2016.Podolski owns an ice cream parlour and a kebab shop in Cologne.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.
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