Enlarge image
Lukas Podolski in the shirt of his club Górnik Zabrze
Photo: IMAGO/MICHAL CHWIEDUK / IMAGO/Newspix
Lukas Podolski can still do it: The now 37-year-old world champion from 2014 caused a sensation with a spectacular goal in the first Polish football league, the Ekstraklasa.
In the 73rd minute of his club Górnik Zabrze’s 4-1 (1-1) away win at Pogon Stettin, Podolski scored the final goal – from his own half of the field: after teammate Norbert Wojtuszek won the ball, Podolski lay down briefly the ball behind the halfway line, lifted his head and saw that Szczecin goalkeeper Bartosz Klebaniuk was way too far in front of his own goal.
Podolski's strong left foot did the rest: the 130-time German international shot powerfully and precisely towards the goal from around 60 meters, the ball crossing the line before it even touched the ground.
A feat that astounded the Zabrze colleagues: goalkeeper Daniel Bielica threw his hands up in disbelief, coach Bartosch Gaul simply shook his head with a grin.
Podolski is the oldest player in the Zabrze squad, but remains a regular in tenth place.
With six assists, Podolski is also the best preparer in his team, the long-range shot against Stettin was his second goal of the season.
Born in Gliwice, ten kilometers away, Podolski moved from Antalyaspor to Poland in the summer of 2021 and has been playing for Zabrze ever since.
The attacker celebrated his breakthrough almost 20 years ago at 1. FC Köln, followed by three years at FC Bayern Munich, returning to Cologne and stints at FC Arsenal, Inter Milan, Galatasaray and Vissel Kobe.
cev
