Eugen Polanski (; born Bogusław Eugeniusz Polański on 17 March 1986) is a Polish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played mainly as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He amassed

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

totals of 254 matches and 14 goals over 12 seasons, in representation of

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

and

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...

. He also competed in the Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

, with

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

. Polanski appeared for

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

Club career

Born in

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industria ...

, Poland, Polanski moved to Germany as an infant, joining

's youth ranks at the age of eight. In 2004–05, on 12 February 2005, he made his debut both in the first team and the

, in a 2–0 away loss against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

that was his sole appearance of the season. Polanski scored his first goal as a professional in a 1–1 home draw against

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

on 19 November 2005, and went on to be relatively played the following years. In 2007–08, however, as the campaign ended in promotion, he only featured in nine

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

matches. After his contract at Borussia expired in June 2008, Polanski agreed a move to

with

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

. During his first and only season, as the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

side finished just one place above the relegation zone, he was first choice, often partnering

Javier Casquero Francisco Javier Casquero Paredes (born 11 March 1976) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played usually as a central midfielder. Over 11 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 322 matches and 43 goals, mainly with Getafe (six year ...

in central midfield. On 12 June 2009, Polanski was loaned out to 1. FSV Mainz 05 on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long spell. However, the following month, the deal was extended for another year, with the clubs reaching an agreement for a permanent switch in early November 2010. On 25 January 2013, Polanski joined fellow top division team

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 1899 ...

, penning a deal until June 2015.

International career

Polanski appeared for

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at various youth levels, often as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He was a key member of the under-21s at the 2006 UEFA European Championship, scoring a magnificent long-range goal in the fixture against

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

; his form made

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

enquire about his services, but Mönchengladbach promptly rejected the offer. In May 2011, Polanski confirmed his intent to play for

. On 26 July, he was called up by manager

Franciszek Smuda Franciszek Smuda (; born 22 June 1948) is a Polish Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former footballer who also holds a German passport. As a player, he spent his career playing for clubs in Poland, the United States and Ge ...

for a friendly with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, making his debut in the game which took place on 10 August. Polanski was selected as part of the 23-man squad that competed in the finals played on home soil and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He appeared in three games during the tournament, in an eventual group stage exit.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polanski, Eugen 1986 births Living people People from Sosnowiec Polish emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany German people of Polish descent Polish people of German descent Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship Polish footballers German footballers Association football midfielders Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Borussia Mönchengladbach players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players La Liga players Getafe CF footballers Germany youth international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Poland international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players Polish expatriate footballers German expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Polish expatriate sportspeople in Spain German expatriate sportspeople in Spain