Podolski blasts his way back to form

FCBayernNews · News fetcher Joined: 31 Aug 2006 Posts: 1240 votes: 2

03.09.2006

"I'm getting better all the time," Lukas Podolski declared in an interview published by fcbayern.de just a few days ago. The summer signing provided convincing evidence to support his point of view with an energetic display and the winning goal for Germany in Saturday's 1-0 Euro 2008 qualifying victory over Ireland. "I'm not at 100 percent yet, but I'll be completely there in a couple of weeks," the player declared afterwards.

Podolski is well on the way to recovering peak form, just in time for a packed September schedule with his club which features six matches in three weeks. Bayern boss Felix Magath's strategy of giving his star newcomer time to acclimatise after the World Cup, fielding him as a substitute in the first three Bundesliga matches with increasingly longer spells on the field, has clearly paid off as the 21-year-old slowly but surely finds his feet in Bavaria.

Sixteen international goals

The match-winning goal against a typically stubborn Irish eleven, Poldi's first strike since the World Cup, will have set the seal on the player's ever-increasing confidence. "But I knew I'd score again soon enough, so it wasn't like a great weight slipping off my shoulders," he insisted. New Germany supremo Joachim Löw reckoned the youngster had "a very good match. Lukas covered an incredible amount of ground, he looked extremely mobile and pulled their defenders this way and that."

As it happens, the former Cologne shooting-star is already breaking records in a Germany shirt. He has scored 16 times for his country but is still only 21 years and three months old, a feat not matched or even approached by any of the 842 players officially capped by Germany in their 98-year history as an international footballing nation.

Parallels to Der Bomber

Even the great Gerd Müller cannot boast a similar achievement. Intriguingly, after Der Bomber arrived in Munich back in 1964, he had to wait a full 12 matches before starting for the senior team. In that sense, Podolski is merely following in the prolific goalscorer's footsteps, although he will surely not have to wait as long for his first appearance in a Bayern starting line-up.

MUTU

I say he'll start against St. Pauli...

Mirage

When is that match? Confused

MUTU

Next Saturday. It's a German Cup encounter. Whoever wins goes through to the next round. If the match ends in a draw, extra time will follow, and then penalties if they're still draw after extra time.

Mirage

Really? Oh wow I know nothing about the German Cup but I believe there's a forum so I'll go and check it out Razz

Thanks.
If you're right and he starts, I hope he goes all the way through extra time if necessary and to penalties. He takes a mean penalty.

MUTU

Yes there's a forum for the German Cup, and I've already started the St. Pauli match thread over here.