From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
German Footballer Lukas Podolski turns 29 today.
Lukas Josef Podolski (German pronunciation: [ˈluːkas poˈdɔlski]); born Łukasz Józef Podolski (IPA: [ˈwukaʂ poˈdɔlski]) on 4 June 1985) is a German footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Arsenal and the Germany national team. He is a left-footed attacker known for his strong shot, technique and probing attacks from the left side.
He joined 1. FC Köln in 1995 where he broke into the first team in 2003 and made 81 appearances for the club before moving to FC 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 FC in 2012. Although he was eligible to play for Germany and Poland, Podolski chose to play for Germany. He was first capped by Germany in 2004 and has been part of the squad in all major tournaments since then. He is currently the fifth highest goalscorer in the history of his country, having scored 46 times.
On 29 May 2013, Podolski scored the fastest goal in the Germany national team's history in a 4–2 friendly win over Ecuador when he scored nine seconds after kick-off. Podolski's goal was also the second fastest international goal in history. Only San Marino's Davide Gualtieri's strike against England at the 8.3 second mark in 1993 was faster.
Podolski was born to Waldemar Podolski and Krystyna Podolska, a former member of the Poland national handball team in the Silesian industrial town of Gliwice (near Katowice), Poland.
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 had until 1945 been a part of Germany as Gleiwitz). Podolski grew up in Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, and later in Pulheim, both near Cologne.
Podolski holds both German and Polish nationality, 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 arrived at the decision, but nevertheless "there are two hearts beating" in his chest. Podolski 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's longtime girlfriend Monika Puchalski gave birth to their first child, Louis Gabriel Podolski, on 14 April 2008. In April 2011, the couple married in a civil ceremony in Cologne, Germany. In June 2011, they had a church wedding in Kamionna, Węgrów County, Poland. Podolski is a fan of KS Górnik Zabrze.
Podolski has appeared in music videos 'Halleluja' and 'Kölsche Jung' with Cologne based band Brings, and provided the backing vocals in Halleluja. He is famous for his quote that "football is like chess, only without the dice" (Fussball ist wie Schach, nur ohne Würfel).
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