c0nr4d wrote:im glad to see francais move on, hopefully it'll be a good championship match
Cloudy wrote:He looks like Nocioni after a car crash..
in some places, he doesn't have hair, and it won't grow up.
car crash or smth like that when he was 2, the glass cut all his face
worldcup.com wrote:Podolski: It was all down to the team
Hosts Germany have provided one of the feel-good stories of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, with their refreshingly attacking brand of football and seemingly unbreakable team spirit.
Their dreams of winning football's greatest prize on home soil may have been dashed by Italy in a dramatic semi-final, but coach Jurgen Klinsmann and his team still have plenty to celebrate, not least strike prodigy Lukas Podolski’s capture of the prestigious Gillette Best Young Player award.
With three goals in the tournament to date and a series of impressive performances alongside fellow attacker Miroslav Klose, the 21-year-old Podolski, who is about to join German champions Bayern Munich from FC Cologne, has been chosen by FIFA's Technical Study Group (TSG) as the best young player in the competition.
Podolski still has another match to play, of course, when Germany face Portugal in Stuttgart's Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion on Saturday in the match for third place. A win, and perhaps even another goal, would be a wonderful way for the affable youngster to bring his first FIFA World Cup to a close. Here, in an exclusive interview with FIFAworldcup.com, Podolski gives his own impressions on how he thinks he has fared.
Lukas Podolski, congratulations on winning the Gillette Best Young Player award. How much does this mean to you?
It's just great to win an award like this at the biggest tournament in the world. I want to thank everyone who voted for me and of course the other guys in the squad. My winning the award was all down to the team. Of course, it's not quite as good as winning the whole tournament though.
How are you feeling ahead of Saturday's play-off for third place?
It will be difficult for both teams to motivate themselves for this game, since we're obviously feeling a bit down after losing in the semi-final, but we will be going all out to win the match and give the fans in Germany something else to cheer about. We definitely want to finish third.
Will you be looking to overtake Miroslav Klose in the list of top goalscorers and win the adidas Golden Shoe award?
No, which one of us wins that prize is not important to me. We wanted to win the World Cup, and unfortunately we've missed out on that. Miro has had a great tournament, and I hope that he can end up as top scorer and maybe even knock one or two more in against Portugal.
How do you think your first ever FIFA World Cup™ has gone?
It's obviously been one of my career highlights to date. Three years ago, I was playing in FC Cologne's youth team, and then when I turned pro, we unfortunately weren't playing European football. I have since managed to get some international experience playing for Germany, and being at a tournament like this, scoring three goals and for us to finish third or fourth is obviously wonderful. It is a real achievement, both for me and for the team.
What will you remember most about Germany 2006?
I haven't even thought about this yet. That'll come when I have some time off afterwards, and can sit and look back on it all. The main thing at the moment is that we're all so disappointed, even still today, that we lost in the semi-final against Italy.
In that match, you were marked by a world-class defender in the shape of Fabio Cannavaro. Where do you think you need to improve to be able to come out on top against a player like him?
I'm quite a way away at the moment. I'm still young, and still very much in the development phase, and things can only get better for me. Playing against him was another way of gaining valuable experience. Now that I'll be playing with Bayern, I'll carry on gaining experience and developing. When the next World Cup comes around in four years' time, things will look different.
How do you rate the way the German team has evolved recently?
Before the tournament, everything we did seemed to come in for criticism. And of course now, everyone is changing their opinion with the benefit of hindsight. We always wanted to have a young squad, and during the tournament, we showed what we are capable of and how much potential we have.
Rather than Germany, it will be Italy versus France in Sunday's Final. Who is your tip to win?
I'm going for France. They way they have been playing in their last few games, particularly after their poor performances in the group stage, has been really impressive.
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