Ebi Smolarek

Euzebiusz "Ebi" Smolarek (Polish pronunciation: [ɛu̯ˈzɛbjuʂ smɔˈlarɛk]; born 9 January 1981) is a Polish former professional footballer who is youth manager at Dutch club Feyenoord.

Ebi Smolarek
Smolarek with Polonia Warsaw in 2011
Personal information
Full name Euzebiusz Smolarek
Date of birth (1981-01-09) 9 January 1981
Place of birth Łódź, Poland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Striker, winger
Club information
Current team
 Feyenoord (youth manager)
Youth career
VV Spirit
1993–2000 Feyenoord
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2005 Feyenoord 68 (12)
2005–2007 Borussia Dortmund 81 (25)
2007–2009 Racing Santander 34 (4)
2008–2009 → Bolton Wanderers (loan) 12 (0)
2009–2010 Kavala 15 (3)
2010–2011 Polonia Warsaw 23 (7)
2011 → Polonia Warsaw (ME) (loan) 1 (0)
2011–2012 Al-Khor 10 (3)
2012 ADO Den Haag 12 (2)
2012–2013 Jagiellonia Białystok 20 (4)
2012–2013 → Jagiellonia Białystok (ME) (loan) 3 (2)
Total 279 (62)
National team‡
2002–2010 Poland 47 (19)
Teams managed
2014– Feyenoord (Youth)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 February 2015
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2010

He played primarily as a striker or winger,[1] representing clubs in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, England, Greece, Poland, and Qatar.

Smolarek played 47 times for the Polish national football team, scoring 19 officials goals,[2] the joint-tenth most in the nation's history. He was part of the Polish squads at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008.

Club career

Born in Łódź, Smolarek grew up in the Netherlands, where his father, Włodzimierz Smolarek, played in the Eredivisie and later worked as a coach.[3] Smolarek went through the Feyenoord youth system and made it all the way to the first team.

On 24 August 2007, Smolarek signed with Racing de Santander for a reported €4.8 million.[4]

Smolarek (left) and Andrius Skerla

On 29 August 2008, Racing loaned Smolarek to Bolton Wanderers for the season, with a view to signing him permanently.[5] Smolarek's debut for his new club came as the team lost 3–1 to Arsenal on 20 September 2008.[6]

On 3 January 2009, Smolarek scored his first, and only, goal for Bolton in the FA Cup 3rd Round match away to Sunderland[7] but at the end of the season the club decided not to make his loan permanent. On 10 August 2009 he was released by Racing.[8]

Despite some interest from Bundesliga clubs at the start of the 2009–10 season,[9] Smolarek signed on 14 December 2009 with Kavala until 30 June 2012.[10] On 25 July 2010, he and the club agreed to cancel his contract by mutual consent.[11] He signed a two-year contract with Polonia Warsaw on 27 July 2010.[11] On 29 July 2011, Smolarek agreed to cancel his contract with Polonia due to his financial expectations.[12]

Smolarek also played for Ekstraklasa side Jagiellonia Białystok.[13]

International career
Smolarek challenging for the ball against Eddie Lewis of the United States in a March 2006 friendly

A Polish international since 2002, Smolarek was selected for the 2006 FIFA World Cup but failed to score any goals.

He was Poland's (and group A's) top scorer in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying scoring nine goals, beating Cristiano Ronaldo. Smolarek scored a hat-trick against Kazakhstan in Warsaw. He played all of the nation's matches in Switzerland and Austria, as Poland exited in the group stages.

In a memorable feat, he was the first Pole to score a goal against Portugal in 20 years, the previous one being his father. Impressively, he scored both goals in a 2–1 win in a Euro 2008-qualifying match.[14]

On 1 April 2009, Smolarek scored four goals against San Marino. This made him top goal scorer for group three and tied him with Belgium's Wesley Sonck for second highest goal scorer for the European Zone of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification.[15]

Personal life

Smolarek is the son of another Polish international, Włodzimierz Smolarek. He was named after Portuguese footballer Eusébio.[16] With his Dutch fiancée Thirza van Giessen he has a son (b. 27 April 2010), named Mees (for some time it was believed he named him Messi after Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi; the actual name Mees is an old Dutch name, and does not have anything to do with Messi).[17]

Career statistics

Club
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Feyenoord 2000-01 Eredivisie 2530020273
2001–02 Eredivisie 1921070272
2002–03 Eredivisie 00000000
2003–04 Eredivisie 2170010227
2004–05 Eredivisie 30000030
Total 6812101007912
Borussia Dortmund 2004–05 Bundesliga 1530040193
2005–06 Bundesliga 341310203713
2006–07 Bundesliga 3092000329
2007–08 Bundesliga 20110031
Total 812541609126
Racing Santander 2007–08 La Liga 34462–406
Bolton Wanderers (loan) 2008–09 Premier League 12011–131
Kavala 2009–10 Super League 15330–183
Polonia Warsaw 2010–11 Ekstraklasa 23730–267
Al-Khor 2011–12 Stars League 10300–103
ADO Den Haag 2011–12 Eredivisie 12200–122
Jagiellonia 2012–13 Ekstraklasa 20431–235
Career total 2756021516031265

International goals

Honours

Club

Feyenoord

Individual
  • Polish Footballer of the Year: 2005, 2006, 2007
gollark: Do they make fish laser goggles?
gollark: How are you meant to safely test laser goggles without other laser goggles?
gollark: My USB wall charger says it just does 2.4A on one port, and presumably doesn't actually do negotiation.
gollark: Not everything's actually going to provide that, though.
gollark: It probably varies a lot based on the port, which... might be an issue, I don't know.

References
  1. "Smolarek close to leaving for spain". borussia-dortmund.com. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  2. Andrzej Gowarzewski: Biało-Czerwoni. Dzieje reprezentacji Polski (6) 2008-2015. Katowice: Wydawnictwo GiA, 2016, p. 37. ISBN 978-83-88232-48-0.
  3. "Goalscorers list Eredivisie" (in Dutch). beijen.net. 2003. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  4. "Smolarek signs for Santander". soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  5. "Bolton bring in Smolarek on loan". BBC Sport. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  6. "Bolton 1–3 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 20 September 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  7. "Sunderland 2–1 Bolton". BBC. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  8. "Racing Santander release Ebi Smolarek". IMS Scouting. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  9. "Mercado: El Hamburgo renuncia a contratar a Smolarek" (in Spanish). goal.com. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  10. "Smolarek wreszcie znalazł klub" (in Polish). sports.pl. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  11. "Smolarek oficjalnie w Polonii. Czarne Koszule tworzą mistrzowską drużynę" (in Polish). sports.pl. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 30 July 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  12. "Euzebiusz Smolarek odchodzi z Polonii Warszawa" (in Polish). 90minut.pl. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  13. "Smolarek oficjalnie w Jagiellonii" (in Polish). jagiellonia.pl. 12 September 2012. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  14. "Poland 2–1 Portugal: Smolarek stuns Portugal". espn.go.com. 7 October 2006. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  15. Wołosik, Piotr. "Trener powinien odejść po Euro" (in Polish). Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  16. "Ebi Smolarek: Poland star follows in father's footsteps". abc.net.au. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  17. "Smolarek: fotografowanie Meesa to chamstwo" (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
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