Euzebiusz Smolarek

Euzebiusz “Ebi” Smolarek is a former Polish professional footballer. He is currently the manager of the youth team of Dutch club Feyenoord. He was born on 9th January 1981 and hails from the city of Lodz, in central Poland. He primarily played as a centre forward, but was often employed as a winger in the flanks, preferring to play on the right side rather than the left. He was also capable of playing as a striker because of his decent height. He was a right-footed player, with a very good left foot.

Not exactly a target man or a fox in the box, he was better at scoring goals from outside or near the edge of box. Smolarek also had decent heading ability, but it was his willingness to reach crosses and passes in the box that made him stand out as he beat defenders with better physical stature just by sheer determination. An acrobatic player, he was very good with volleys and used his athletic ability to get to balls that other players would not reach.

A fairly successful international campaigner, he won 47 caps for the Poland national football team and scored 20 goals, the tenth-most in the nation’s history.

Background

Named after Portuguese football legend Eusebio, his father Wlodzimierz Smolarek was also a professional footballer who played for the Poland national team. Ebi started playing football with the amateur football club VV Spirit. He moved to the youth team of Feyenoord in 1993 at the age of 12. He made it through the club’s youth system, coming through the ranks to make his senior debut for the club in 2000-01 season, aged 19.

Debut

Smolarek made his international debut on 13th February 2002, in an international friendly match against Northern Ireland. He had a decent start as Poland won the match 1:4. Smolarek however failed to garner enough attention, and did not find himself a regular place in the national team until 2005 due to intense competition.

Rise to Glory

He rose to glory first playing for Feyenoord as he was part of the squad that won the 2002 UEFA Cup. Not yet a starter, he grew from strength to strength to establish himself as a mainstay in the team.

He then attracted the interest of German club Borussia Dortmund who signed him before the start of the 2005-06 season. He spent two years with the club making 81 appearances and scoring 25 goals. He won two consecutive Polish Footballer of the Year in 2005 and 2006 while playing for Dortmund.

He then grabbed the spotlight in 2007 playing for Poland, when he scored nine goals in the 2008 UEFA Euro qualifying round, beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally.

Club Career

Smolarek kas played for clubs like Feyenoord, Borussia Dortmund, Racing Santander, Kavala, Polonia Warsaw, Al-Khor, ADO Den-Haag, and Jagiellonia Bialystok. He also played for Bolton Wanderers while on loan from Racing Santander.

Achievements

He won the 2002 UEFA Cup with Feyenoord. Personally, he won three consecutive Polish Footballer of the Year from 2005 to 2007.