Image via @_Ekstraklasa_ on Twitter
Lukas Podolski has been at Górnik Zabrze for over a year now, and whilst there was optimism last summer about how a World Cup winner and legend of football playing in the Ekstraklasa would be of benefit, it was quickly overlooked as the excitement of seeing Podolski play week-in-week-out in Poland started to subside.
It was easy to understand why; despite scoring nine goals in 27 Ekstraklasa appearances in the 21/22 season, he was often a passenger in games and the appetite for seeing the farewell tour of a 37 year-old forward who chose to represent Germany instead of Poland (although that is a complicated tale) seemed to wane as the season wore on.
This year it seems slightly different. Taking up a mentor role as on-loan Legia striker Szymon Włodarczyk is plying his trade with Górnik, Podolski seems more energised this season, and he has helped to focus attention on the Ekstraklasa once again by scoring from inside his own half on Saturday against Pogoń Szczecin and thus going fairly viral, with many suggesting he’ll win Fifa’s Puskas Award for the goal of the year.
It’s important not to understate the effect this sort of thing can have on a league. The Ekstraklasa should be able to establish itself as league where Polish legends (or ethnic Polish like Podolski) can end their careers whilst helping young, up-and-coming Polish players learn from the best. Take Kamil Glik or Grzegorz Krychowiak as examples: both will almost certainly be in Poland’s World Cup squad, both have been top players earlier in their careers, but are choosing to wind up their playing careers in Italy and Saudi Arabia respectively. Were they to come to the Ekstraklasa like Podolski, they could help raise the league’s profile in a similar manner.
Podolski’s time at Górnik has been wonderful for the team; he has arranged sponsorship deals for the club, put money into their academy and all because he promised his grandmother he would play for the side. Even more pleasing to hear was a recent interview, where Podolski claimed that he plans to keep playing with Górnik for a few more seasons.
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