For lukas podolski, the best thing about his record goal was the joy of little louis on the tribune.
My son was in the stadium and cheered along with us. Everything else that’s being talked about is a minor matter," said podolski, beaming with joy after the 4-2 (4-1) win over ecuador.
The 27-year-old made soccer history in boca raton with the earliest recorded goal for germany after nine seconds. With 109 caps, he has passed jurgen klinsmann to move up to third place in the DFB’s all-time ranking list. And his eighth brace in an eagle jersey took the "eternal poldi" to 46 goals in the german scoring charts, passing karl-heinz rummenigge for sixth place.
However, podolski didn’t want to hear about any special motivation or even a defiant reaction after a thoroughly unsettled first week on the USA tour. "I can take the wind right out of that, that was absolutely not the case, even if it’s naturally being portrayed that way now," podolski said in high spirits.
"I’m so old now, i’ve played so many games and experienced so much. I had to be prodded at every training session," said the arsenal attacker, who remains an integral part of the national team as both a player and a character.
Team manager oliver bierhoff addressed in miami what the statistics of the season had proven until wednesday: the ninth year in the national team was a standstill in the dfb career for the "kolner jung". Young players like dortmund’s marco reus or mario gotze have passed him by, others like andre schurrle are raising the competition. "Even if i don’t believe it: i’m just happy about every game, i enjoy playing soccer. And my family is very important," he stressed, tugging at his miami heat cap: "i just wanted to play a good game."
Little louis (5) was able to cheer after his father’s very first action on the pitch. Papa podolski put ecuador defender gabriel achilier under pressure, scrambled for the ball and, in his familiar style, netted with a firm left-footed shot after nine seconds – to great effect. "The first goal after a few seconds from lukas gave us a fluke," declared national coach joachim low.
"You take the numbers with you, of course," podolski said about his personal record marks. "But i’m not one to say stop now. I want to play a few more internationals, I want to take part in another world cup, maybe another european championship."In this respect, his first national team goals in about a year can be seen as a sign: look, i’m not giving up that easily!
Low, in whose national coach-ara podolski is the man with the most appearances (77), had already strengthened the englishman of choice before the ecuador game. "I didn’t catch that, we don’t have german television here," podolski said with a laugh. Even after the game, the national coach praised him: "he has proven time and again over many years how important he is for our team. He showed a great performance with two goals, but also with an unbelievable running and fighting effort."