“Our 10 are returning home – one last time in Rut un Wiess”. Lukas Podolski (38) celebrated his farewell game in his hometown of Cologne on Thursday evening (October 10, 2024).
In the first half, Poldi led a specially assembled team that faced a selection of FC legends. The team of legends included, among others, world champions Manuel Neuer, Per Mertesacker, Benedikt Höwedes and Roman Weidenfeller.
Live ticker: Lukas Podolski’s farewell game in Müngersdorf
In the second round he stormed for FC, alongside former professionals such as Matthias Scherz, Lukas Sinkiewicz, Dominic Maroh, Christian Clemens, Marcel Risse and Patrick Helmes. The team was supplemented by current Cologne talents such as Maxi Schmid and Nikola Soldo.
Here you can read more about Poldi’s farewell game:
10:45 p.m.: That was it from the Rhein-Energie-Stadion. A dignified farewell to the Cologne world champion.
10:40 p.m.: This is finally over now. Podolski is on the last few meters of his well-deserved victory lap.
10:36 p.m.: To round things off, Tommi is now running. Meanwhile, Poldi stands in the center circle and soaks up the atmosphere in his living room one last time.
10:33 p.m.: There are prominent greetings from the video screen from Max Kruse, Knossi, Mats Hummels, Hermann Gerland and Andres Iniesta.
10.30 p.m.: In the middle of his speech, he tears again. There is thunderous applause and Lukas Podolski singing. He ended his speech with: “I have always worn this jersey with honor! Once a Cologner – always a Cologner! It’s hard to say goodbye to my living room, I would love to sleep here. Once a Cologner, always a Cologner.”
10:28 p.m.: Podolski takes the microphone and says: “I always wanted to stay normal, someone from the street. Without the fans, football is nothing. It was always important to me to keep these values. It was a great honor for me to play for FC, I lived it and no one can take that away from me.”
10:26 p.m.: At the end there is something to laugh about. Poldi’s first interview after the Rostock game is shown on the screens. Christian Sprenger, who conducted the very first interview, can now also conduct the last one with him.
10:23 p.m.: Of course, Podolski also receives a picture from the Ultras as a “farewell present”. Now he waves an XXL flag with the inscription “One of us” and the legendary scene of how he slapped Michael Ballack during an international match.
10:20 p.m.: Podolski joins in with the megaphone, the curve sings along loudly.
10:18 p.m.: With the pyro torch in his hand, Poldi sits on the fence and enjoys the celebration. Now he speaks to the south with the megaphone. There is thunderous applause from the die-hard fans.
10:17 p.m.: When we arrive in front of the most loyal fans, the tears flow freely. Poldi climbs onto the podium, hugs Capo Stephan Schell and lights a pyro-flare.
10:16 p.m.: Podolski is visibly fighting back tears, these emotions do not leave even the toughest world champion unmoved. He is now rapidly approaching the south.
10:15 p.m.: Like back in the Maracana – during his biggest triumph of his career – Poldi grabbed a Cologne flag and enjoyed the standing ovation in his living room.
10:13 p.m.: After Poldi’s last lap of honor it’s over. The game will no longer kick off. The game ends with 5:3 for “Poldis 11” against FC. But nobody cares about the result that evening.
10.10 a.m.: The stadium stands up, the teammates stand in line. Lukas Podolski leaves the pitch at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion for the last time as an active player. While Poldi goes on the final lap of honor, Brings play “Kölsche Jung” for the Kölsche Jung.
64. Min: 10:10 a.m. – a world-class footballer leaves the big stage.
62. Min.: Dominic Maroh is the last man on the line to clear and prevents the score being 3:6.
61. Min.: Louis Podolski is ready on the sidelines. He wears dad’s first number 36 for FC.
57. Min.: While heavy rain has set in here, the away fans are all standing shirtless in the block. Meanwhile, Podolski has the score at 4:5, but his lob attempt misses the goal.
54. Min.: Now here we go! Podolski is through to the left again. This time he serves Matthias Scherz in the middle. The FC veteran stays cool and scores to make it 3:5.
52. Min.: With the help of Podolski, FC is catching up. After a fine cross from the left, Simon Terodde slots in the middle to make it 2:5.
50 Min.: Höwedes passes his friend in the penalty area. Actually a fair move, but it still gives Podolski a penalty. The world champion humourlessly hits the thing into the corner with his left stick. Only 1:5 from FC’s point of view.
48. Min: Poldi dribbles his way through the penalty area, the defenders are actually just lined up, but the prince gets tangled up and loses the ball at the five-pointer.
46. Min.: It continues, the ball rolls again.
9:50 p.m.: Podolski is the last to enter the pitch. The teams are already ready, waiting for the evening’s guest of honor.
9:48 p.m.: In just a few minutes it will happen. Poldis plays for FC one last time, before kissing the coat of arms again.
9:45 p.m.: After Frank Schaefer’s half-time speech, Poldi puts on the number 10 jersey. He also wears the armband for the club he loves for the last time and specially designed FC shoes.
9:44 p.m.: Lukas Podolski changes his clothes in the catacombs. The prince is already wearing the red FC pants and is about to put on the billy goat shirt one last time.
Half-time conclusion: It is 5-0 at halftime for “Poldis 11” against FC. This has so far been a one-sided affair. The Zabrze players clearly show the FC old stars their limits. Lukas Podolski has already told us about his long-awaited goal; the Cologne world champion opened the scoring. Shortly before halftime things got emotional again. Louis Podolski came on as a substitute and stormed alongside his dad for the last five minutes.
45. Min.: Shortly afterwards it’s half time. FC goes into the break with a score of 0:5. After the break, Poldi switches sides, which gives hope for improvement.
41. Min.: FC has a great double chance of scoring a consolation goal. First Schmid fails because of Zieler, then Risse only narrowly misses the goal.
40. Min.: The time has come: Poldi’s son Louis enters the field. He wears the number 36, which his father started his career with. He now plays with his dad in the storm.
40. Min.: The guests from Poland set off a real fireworks display in the block. This was announced and the guests were hidden under a flag for minutes.
37. Min.: FC has to swallow the next goal. Again Ismaheel runs towards Köbbing alone. This time the Zabrze striker goes around the Cologne keeper and scores to make it 5-0.
33. Min.: The next changes: Benedikt Höwedes, Matthias Ginter, Erik Durm and Ron-Robert Zieler are coming.
30. Min.: Risse has the best chance for FC. But Weidenfeller fends off the Cologne player’s shot for a corner.
28. Min.: One attack after the next rolled towards the Cologne goal. The defense around Nikola Soldo and Lukas Sinkiewicz is hopelessly overwhelmed.
27. Min: Köbbing, currently the poorest pig on the pitch, prevents the 0:5 in a one-on-one with Ismaheel.
25. Min: And then it happens: Szczesniak, who has just come on as a substitute, gives FC their fourth goal.
25. Min: FC has no chance in this constellation. The fourth goal is already in the air.
23. Min: There are the first changes: Manuel Neuer and Per Mertesacker leave the pitch. Szczesniak and Roman Weidenfeller are coming.
21. Min.: Poldis 11 makes it 3-0. Damian Rasak (Gornik Zabrze) scores with a header after Stephan Salger misjudged at the far post. This is a clear matter so far.
18. Min.: So far the roles have been clearly assigned. You can clearly see that there are more current professionals on the pitch in “Poldis 11”. Only Nikola Soldo, Georg Strauch, Marco Höger, Stephan Salger and Maxi Schmid are still active at FC.
16. Min.: Poldi makes it 3-0 with a heel, but the world champion was previously offside. On the other side, Risse tries from a distance, but Neuer has no problems with the shot.
14. Min.: 2-0 for Poldi’s team! Zabrze striker Sinan Bakis runs alone towards Köbbing and shoots dry. The “guest fans” celebrate their attacker.
11. Min.: Because Christoph Kramer is kicking along at Poldi, there are loud anti-Gladbach chants from the south. The world champion is whistled every time he touches the ball.
9. Min.: FC has its first big chance through Patrick Helmes. But the former FC striker’s long shot just missed Manuel Neuer’s box.
5. Min.: As in the script: Podolski himself scored the first goal of the evening. The Cologne world champion scores with his left stick to make it 1-0 for “Poldis 11”
2. Minute: The fans take the FC lineup with humor. Directly behind Manuel Neuer there is a poster: “Köbbing for Germany”
8:50 p.m.: Poldi forms a heart towards the south curve and then the ball rolls after the kick-off has been delayed a little.
8:47 p.m.: Even before the game, stadium spokesman Michael Trippel said that Poldi could soon take on a new role at FC. The fans cheered. Is this farewell game also the beginning of a new chapter?
8:45 p.m.: Of course, the “Kölsche Prinz” belts out every word fervently.
8:44 p.m.: Poldi is standing on the grass and his eyes are shining: the FC anthem is being sung!
8:43 p.m.: Both teams received specially designed jerseys for the game, and the ball was also designed specifically for Poldi.
8.40 p.m.: Here come the teams: FC is wearing the special Poldi jersey, which was a huge hit with FC fans.
8:38 p.m.: Rhythmic clapping is now the order of the day and the teams will arrive shortly. The rest of “Poldis 11” is supporting the 2014 world champion.
8:34 p.m.: Just under ten minutes until kick-off. Now the line-up of “Poldis 11” is there: Neuer – Olkowski, Mertesacker, Janicki – Kramer, Rasak – Ismaheel, Podolski, Furukuwa – Bakis
8.30 p.m.: The FC board and management presented Podolski with a picture by the young Cologne artist Jakob Schwald as a gift. There are the first “Lukas Podolski” songs
8:27 p.m.: The FC line-up is there: Köbbing – Strauch, Soldo, Sinkiewicz, Salger – Höger, Matuschyk – Risse, Terodde, Schmid – Helmes
8:25 p.m.: Christian Keller has a lively conversation on the sidelines with Oliver Bierhoff, manager of the national team at the 2014 World Cup.
8:23 p.m.: An XXL banner for Podolski hangs in the south: “Poldi: piece of the club, child of the curve, part of the city! Thank you for everything!”
8:20 p.m.: The guest block is full to the brim. Thousands of Zabrze fans made their way to say goodbye to Poldi in his living room.
8:17 p.m.: There he is! Podolski enters the field and takes the first lap of honor of the evening. Thunderous applause erupts on the south as the prince bows.
8:16 p.m.: Contrary to the announcement, world champion Kevin Großkreutz is missing from the squad. So the lineup continues to shrink.
8:14 p.m.: While his teammates are warming up, Poldi is a guest on a special edition of “TV Total” with Sebastian Pufpaff from the Rhein-Energie Stadium.
8:10 p.m.: The warming up is accompanied musically by Brings. Meanwhile, on the sidelines, world champion coach Jogi Löw is fulfilling selfie and autograph requests. He coaches “Poldis 11” with Hansi Flick.
8:08 p.m.: The teams are now completely on the field. Surprisingly, Poldi’s son Louis is also on the score sheet. The prince’s offspring should therefore be used for both teams.
8:04 p.m.: The whole stadium is already in the mood. After the two Kölsch bands have warmed up the audience, the first players enter the pitch. FC goalkeeping coach Peter Greiber leads the two keepers Matthias Köbbing and Jonas Nikisch onto the field.
On the other hand, Manuel Neuer, Roman Weidenfeller and Ron-Robert Zieler are warming up. The trio is trained by Andreas Köpke.
8 p.m.: Welcome from the Rhein-Energie-Stadion. There are still 45 minutes until kick-off. After the Höhner opened the program, Cat Ballou really heated up the mood.
