Jerzy Dudek

Jerzy Dudek (born March 23, 1973 in Rybnik, Poland) is a Poland football (soccer) player who plays for La Liga champions Real Madrid C.F.. He has been capped 56 times for the Poland national football team.

Prior to Real Madrid, Dudek played for Concordia Knurów, Sokół Tychy, Feyenoord Rotterdam and most recently Liverpool FC.

He made a phenomenal contribution to Liverpool F.C during the champions league final against AC Milan in 2005.He also was a member at Liverpool F.C when they won the Worthington cup in 2003,the FA cup in 2006, the UEFA Super cup in 2005 and the FA Community shield in 2006.

Career

In 1996, Dudek was signed by Feyenoord Rotterdam. The first year, he was second goalkeeper, behind the popular Ed de Goey, but when the latter left a year later to Chelsea FC, the Feyenoord management put confidence in Dudek by not signing another keeper, and from 1997 onwards he was their consistent first-choice in goal.

Signed by Liverpool on August 31, 2001 as a replacement for Sander Westerveld, Dudek also plays regularly for the Poland national football team. Despite an impressive debut season in the FA Premier league, he suffered a stressful 2002 FIFA World Cup. Dudek was then dropped from the Liverpool team after several goalkeeping errors, particularly two howlers against Manchester United F.C. on December 1, 2002. Although he regained his place in the team after Chris Kirkland suffered an injury, he finally lost his position as Liverpool's first-choice keeper after the arrival of Jose Reina in July 2005.

On 25 May 2005, Dudek became an instant hero in Liverpool after a characteristically mercurial performance in the UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul against A.C. Milan. Dudek made an incredible double save in the dying minutes of extra-time to prevent Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko from scoring what would almost certainly have been the match winner. Dudek then helped win the trophy for Liverpool with two saves in the penalty shoot-out. Prior to each of the Milan penalties, on the advice of Jamie Carragher, Dudek performed a variety of movements in an attempt to distract the penalty takers. This has since been known as the "Dudek dance", which inspired a dance track called Du the Dudek that was released in July 2005 by the Liverpool-supporting Trophy Boyz. During the post-match interview, Dudek stated that his flamboyant approach to the penalty shoot-out had been influenced by Bruce Grobbelaar, a former Liverpool goalkeeper. Grobbelaar was the hero of the 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over A.S. Roma in the 1984 European Cup Final (the former name of the Champions League) after provoking Francesco Graziani to miss by wobbling his legs in mock fear. Speaking just after the final ended, Dudek stated in his inimitable English, "I am in the heaven".

After the European Cup final, Dudek was replaced in the first team by Spanish people keeper Pepe Reina. Although he went on to make appearances for the Reserves and in Cup competitions, he has rarely featured for the first team since. He did, however, appear in three Premiership matches when Reina was suspended after his red card following a fracas with Chelsea's Arjen Robben. He also played in two more Premiership games towards the end of the 2005/06 season. The next season, injury prevented Dudek from playing in what would have been his final match for the club against Charlton Athletic (also Robbie Fowler's last game) on the final day of the 2006/07 season.

On May 30 2006, during the friendly match between Poland national football team and Colombia national football team, the crowd in the stadium started to chant the name of Dudek, as a way to express their desire to have the goalkeeper in the 2006 World Cup Squad. This was mainly because of the mistake made by Tomasz Kuszczak, allowing the Colombian keeper Luis Enrique "Neco" Martinez to score a goal from a long punt.

On June 21 2006, it was reported that Dudek had been left "devastated" by a burglary at his Wirral Peninsula home, in which the accumulated memorabilia of his career, including his Champions League winners' medal and the shirt he wore in Istanbul, was stolen. The haul, however, was later recovered, and a man and woman charged with the burglary.

On 12th July 2007 it was announced that Jerzy Dudek had agreed to join Real Madrid on a free transfer from Liverpool.
As of July 20th, the deal is to be completed as Dudek has passed his medical at Real Madrid. Real Madrid's Club Doctor, Alfonso Del Corral said " Dudek is 34 years old but his health is fantastic and as good as a younger player. He is a true athlete."

Personal life

Dudek married his wife Mirella (b. December 1974) in June 1996. They have one son, Aleksander, born in December 1996, and two daughters, Wiktoria and Natalia, born in January 2006 and December 2006 respectively.

Dudek has also a brother - Dariusz Dudek who is a footballer as well

In 2004, Pope John Paul II, who played football as a goalkeeper during his youth in Poland, met members of the Polish National Football Team. It was at this time he told Dudek that he was a great fan of his and followed Liverpool whenever they played.

Honours

Feyenoord
- 1998–99 Eredivisie
- 1999–00 Johan Cruijff-schaal

Liverpool
- Winner
- - 2002–03 Football League Cup
- - 2004–05 UEFA Champions League
- - 2005–06 European Super Cup
- - 2005–06 FA Cup
- - 2006–07 Community Shield

- Runner Up
- - 2004–05 Football League Cup
- - 2005 FIFA Club World Cup
- - 2006–07 UEFA Champions League

Personal honours
- 1998–99 Dutch Keeper Of The Year
- 1999–00 Dutch Player Of The Year