Lukas Podolski becomes 40: Prince Poldi’s football career in pictures

In Cologne everything started for Lukas Podolski. There he became a professional footballer, later the club icon. Today Prince Poldi celebrates his 40th birthday – and plays and plays and plays. Podolski is currently kicking at the Polish association Górnik Zabrze, the contract was extended until summer 2026. He doesn’t want to know anything about the end of the career.

He wouldn’t need to continue playing. In his football career, he won almost everything there is to win. Was cup winner in Germany, England, Turkey, Japan. He was a German champion, even world champion. He has enough money anyway. Especially since Prince Poldi has long since made millions away from the square – with his shops, whether clothes or kebab, he has built up an empire.

So now the 40th birthday, for footballers an almost biblical age. Poldi doesn’t want to celebrate big. “I enjoy life, I am glad that I can sit here, have a family, have a family and children, go into the curve at the games and simply eat a bratwurst or currywurst. Everything else, whether there will be a 4 or at some point a 5, I personally don’t care about it,” he said on the sidelines of filming for a Netflix documentary in Cologne.

He looks back happily on his previous career. “I always look where I come from: I come from Poland, from the football field, out of nowhere and can talk about many wonderful moments today. Of course, the bad phases and descents are also part of it. But I’m just proud that I can still live the dream and have so many beautiful moments.”