It was at that time the second fastest international goal in history, second only to San Marino's Davide Gualtieri's 8.3-second strike against England in 1993. FC Köln Podolski playing for Köln in 2006 2.1 International debut and breakthroughĬlub career 1.Podolski retired from international football on 22 March 2017 after scoring the winner in a friendly against England.

Podolski began playing football at the age of six in the youth team of FC 07 Bergheim, where he played until he joined 1. It was there that Podolski's talents were first noticed. In 2003, at the age of 18, Podolski was still part of the club's youth side. At this time the club found itself in dire straits battling to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga. First team boss Marcel Koller, working on a shoestring budget, invited Podolski to train with the senior players and he made his top flight debut shortly afterwards on 22 November 2003. This was the best tally by an 18-year-old in the history of the Bundesliga until Florian Wirtz overtook the record in 2021.Įven though Köln failed to avoid a drop to the 2nd division, Podolski had shown what he could do, scoring 10 goals in his first 19 senior appearances. Though his call up to the German Euro 2004 squad brought along interest from several top clubs, Podolski stayed at Köln to help the club gain promotion in the 2004–05 season. With 24 goals, Podolski advanced to become the league's best scorer.

Somewhat unusually, Podolski remained part of the Germany squad, even though he did not play in the national top-tier league.Īfter Köln were promoted, the pressure was on Podolski to keep the club in the Bundesliga practically singlehandedly. Podolski managed to score 12 goals in the 2005–06 season, but eventually, Köln were relegated again.

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