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In Celebration of Lukas Podolski, Germany Legend and Professional Enigma

Though Lukas Podolski seems like a fairly straightforward character, his career has been one of paradox and contrast. Here, we celebrate the mercurial talents of an enigmatic star.

Lukas Podolski's career as a professional footballer has been one of paradox and contradiction. This is something of a contradiction in itself, in that Lukas Podolski is by all accounts a remarkably uncomplicated man. Sporting his trademark gormless grin and a haircut that looks like something he got in a high-street barber some time after his FC Köln debut in 2003 – and then just went with over and over again, every few weeks for the next decade and a half – Podolski was allegedly once described by a youth coach as "not exactly the brightest in the head", a remark which it should be said caused considerable indignation in Germany. Whether or not there was any truth to that particular assessment of his cognitive abilities, Podolski often appears to have a simple, almost childlike, approach to football: preferably receive the ball somewhere in the final third and, with minimal additional movement, leather it into the back of the net.

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While it has generally served Podolski well to have so simple a modus operandi, this approach is also distinctly limited. While he has rarely been short of goals in his career, and has notched some spectacular strikes along the way, true greatness in the modern game requires proficiency in more than one field. Compare Podolski at club and international level to the likes of Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose and perhaps even someone like Mario Gomez, and his all-round contribution on the pitch lags behind in several areas. That doesn't quite explain how, barring Klose, Podolski has made more appearances and scored more goals than any of them, and indeed many of Die Mannschaft's all-time greats.

When assessing how Podolski has achieved legend status with Germany, one has to make a stark distinction between his club contributions and his showings for the national team. One of the great contradictions of his career is that, while he has often underachieved at club level, Podolski has almost always been able to step things up on the international stage. For most players, it is the other way around, with many struggling psychologically with the pressures and emotions of representing their country, even if their domestic form is fantastic. Likewise, it is rare that a footballer plays a bit part for his club but nonetheless continues to be selected for his national team, considering that domestic form is one of the most important criteria on which selection is judged.

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