AS HE twice placed his hand on his chest in the most muted of celebratory gestures on Sunday night, Lukas Podolski was paying due respect to his homeland who have been left to bitterly lament missing out on his rare goalscoring talent.

While the German striker delighted those who snapped up pre-tournament odds of as much as 25-1 that he will win the Golden Boot at Euro 2008, his own pleasure at scoring both goals in the 2-0 defeat of Poland in their Group B opener was tempered by the strong feelings he retains for his roots.

Podolski was born in Gliwice, or Gliewitz as it is known in Germany, an industrial town in Silesia which was at the hub of the historical enmity which still exists between Poland and their neighbours.
Sovereignty of the town has changed hands several times through the centuries and on 31 August 1939, when it was under German control, the Nazi SS mounted a staged attack on the radio station in Gliewitz. They lay the blame at Poland’s door, providing them with their own justification for the subsequent invasion of the country which started the Second World War.
In 1945, the town was given back to Poland as part of the Potsdam Conference rulings, and it was there that Podolski came into the world 40 years later. When he was just two years old, his family moved across the border to settle near Cologne and were granted German citizenship.
Now with a tremendous return of 27 goals from 49 caps since making his international debut for Germany four years ago, Podolski is contented and settled as a key figure for one of the world’s most efficient and consistently successful footballing countries.
Yet had former Poland coach Pawel Janas not ignored pleas from the country’s media to call up Podolski in 2003 when the then 18-year-old was making a big impression in the Bundesliga at Cologne, he would certainly have been more than willing to represent the nation of his birth instead.
After Sunday night, Janas’ words of five years ago would grate in the minds of thousands of Polish supporters.
“We have much better strikers in Poland than Podolski,” said Janas at the time. “I don’t see a reason to call up a player just because he played one or two good matches in the Bundesliga. He is not even a regular starter at his club.”
Before Janas’ error of judgment could be rectified, Podolski was called into the German squad by Rudi Voller and made his debut as a substitute against Hungary in Kaiserslautern in June 2004. Germany’s youngest player at Euro 2004 in Portugal, Podolski retained his place despite Cologne’s relegation and scored three goals in the 2006 World Cup finals as a resurgent home nation finished third in the tournament.
A £7.5 million transfer to Bayern Munich followed in the summer of 2006. His form for the Bavarian giants has so far not been as prolific as anticipated, with just 17 goals from 72 appearances so far, but Aberdeen supporters who saw him score twice against their team for Bayern in the Uefa Cup earlier this year will testify to Podolski’s deadliness.
He celebrated his 23rd birthday last week and it would seem the best is yet to come from a player who grabbed the spotlight in the opening weekend of Euro 2008. Podolski, however, remained sensitive to the circumstances of his performance against Poland.
“I have a big family back in Poland, I was born in Poland myself and it is a part of my heart,” said Podolski. “I wanted to show some respect after the goals I scored. I didn’t celebrate very much because I was born in Poland, I have a big family there, and you have to have some respect for the land.
“My father, my uncle and relatives from Poland were in the stands. After the match, I rang them up as they were driving back home.”
Podolski, who also played when Germany defeated Poland 1-0 in at the 2006 World Cup with a late Oliver Neuville goal, added: “It’s natural that such a match is something special and exciting. I’ve said often enough that I have Polish blood. But I’ve grown as a player in Germany and that’s where I became known and that’s why there is only one goal for me – to win.”

On the day before their departure for Klagenfurt and Germany’s opening match at UEFA EURO 2008, both Lukas Podolski and David Odonkor appeared in good spirits and full of anticipation about the meeting with Poland.

Batteries recharged
"The break after the end of the Bundesliga season has done us good," explained Podolski. "We had some time to recharge the batteries and since then we’ve been working very well with our fitness trainers. Following a long season with the club, it was nice to see something different with the national team, do new things and new exercises. We are ready to go now."

Memories of Poland
Equally motivated is David Odonkor from Real Betis Balompié, who could well be one of the quickest players on show in these finals. "We are all delighted that it’s finally about to get going," he said. Recalling Germany’s 1-0 victory over the Poles in the first round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he added: "I have happy memories of our last game against Poland at the World Cup but both teams have developed since then and it will be interesting to see how we will be able to transfer everything from the training pitch into the game."

Podolski decision
For Podolski, the big question is exactly how the FC Bayern München player, who has Polish roots, will be deployed. "I am training both as a striker and in midfield at the moment but no decision has been made," he said. "I’ve played well in games as a front man and as a midfielder. I’ll have to wait and see where I play." One thing is clear though. Podolski, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Wednesday, is highly motivated. "If I was to say that this wasn’t a very special game for me, I would be lying."

Lukas Podolski (German, pronounced [ˈlukas poˈdolski]) (born as Łukasz Podolski on June 4, 1985 in Gliwice, Upper Silesia, Poland) nicknamed (Prinz) Poldi, is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Bayern Munich and is a member of the German national football team.

Early career

Podolski was born to Christina and Waldemar Podolski, former Polish football professional, in the industrial town of Gliwice, Poland. In 1987, when Lukas Podolski was two years old, his family settled from the People’s Republic of Poland to West Germany. Podolski grew up in Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, and later in Pulheim, both near Cologne.

He began playing football at the age of six in the youth team of FC Bergheim, where he played until he joined Cologne in 1995. It was there where Podolski’s talents were first noticed. In 2003, at the age of 18, Podolski was still part of the club’s 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 November 22, 2003. Even though Cologne failed to avoid a drop to the 2nd German 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 Cologne to help the club gain promotion in the 2004-05 campaign. With 24 goals, Podolski advanced to become the league’s best scorer. Somewhat unusually, Podolski remained part of the Germany squad, even though he did not play in the national top tier league.

After Cologne 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, Cologne were relegated again. It became clear that Podolski would not stay again to push them through the 2006-07 2nd Bundesliga - even more so, as Podolski was becoming an integral part of the national team.

Bayern Munich

Jürgen Klinsmann, the former coach of Germany, held Podolski in high regard as he is an effective scorer with both his head and feet. Because of this, clubs such as Bayern Munich, Hamburg, Werder Bremen and even Real Madrid manifested their interest in Podolski, even though he had a contract with FC Köln through 2007. On June 1, 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 August 11, 2006 with a 2:0 victory against Borussia Dortmund, coming on as a substitute in the 88th minute. On September 9, 2006, he came on as a second half substitute in a DFB cup game versus FC St Pauli. Only 26 seconds after the second half started, he scored the equaliser, evening the match 1:1. On October 14, 2006, with his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern, Podolski helped to secure the club’s 4-2 win over Hertha Berlin. 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 matchweeks. He returned from this injury and scored against Alemannia Aachen.

National team

In late 2003 after couple of impressive performances in his first few Bundesliga games, Polish media suggested then-Polish national team coach Paweł 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. He’s not even a regular starter at his club.” By that time Podolski was still interested in representing Poland, but as the season progressed more and more German media started to suggest to call up the striker to their national team. When his full potential was finally unveiled, he had already been persuaded to represent Germany. At the end of the season Cologne 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 played for Germany at Euro 2004, where he was the squad’s youngest player. He also attended the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2005 and scored 3 goals there.

Podolski was selected in the Germany squad for the 2006 World Cup, where he partnered Miroslav Klose in attack. He scored his first ever World Cup goal in Germany’s 3rd group match against Ecuador, and both goals in the 2-0 win over Sweden in the round of 16. By this, 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 man ever to accomplish the feat. During the World Cup, Lukas Podolski and his German squad went to the semi-finals and lost to Italy 2-0 in extra time. And, eventually won the third place match against Portugal. His three goals in the tournament tied him for second in the Golden Boot competition, which was won by his teammate Miroslav Klose with 5 goals. Podolski was tied with Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Maxi Rodriguez, Hernán Crespo, and FIFA World Cup MVP (winner of the Golden Ball) Zinedine Zidane. Podolski was named the World Cup’s Best Young Player for his performance in the tournament.

On September 6, 2006, Podolski netted 4 goals in a Euro 2008 qualifying game against San Marino, which made him only third German after Gerd Müller and Michael Ballack to score 4 goals in an international match. The final score of the match in Serravalle was 0-13. In Germany’s 4-1 win against Slovakia in Bratislava on October 11, 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 the 17 November 2007 in a Euro qualifier match against Cyprus, Podolski was involved in every goal in Germany’s 4-0 victory. This was one of Podolski’s best performances for the German 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.

Honors

On July 6, 2006, Podolski was announced as the first Gillette Best Young Player for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club Titles

• Bundesliga: 2008
• 2. Bundesliga: 2005
• German Super Cup: 2007
• German Cup: 2008

National Team

• Confederations Cup Bronze medallist: 2005
• World Cup Bronze medallist: 2006
• Man of the match: for his performance in the victory of Germany against cyprus, 11 november 2007