Łukasz Szukała (born 26 May 1984) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. After starting out his career at Metz B in France, Szukała went on to compete professionally in Germany, Romania, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, respectively. At international level, Szukała represented the Poland senior team between 2013 and 2015, earning 17 caps and one goal in the process.

Club career

Universitatea Cluj

In June 2011, Szukała joined Universitatea Cluj on a three-year contract.

Steaua București

In August 2012, Łukasz signed with Romanian giants Steaua București. On 4 November 2012, Szukała scored his first goal for title-chasing Steaua in a 3–1 win against their

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

arch-rivals, Dinamo, guaranteeing him a good relationship with the very demanding Steaua fans. In 2014, he was voted as the best foreign footballer in

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

Al Ittihad

On 3 January 2015, he signed a contract with Al-Ittihad, when he entered his final six months of the deal with Steaua. The two clubs reached an agreement to release the player before his contract with Steaua ended, thus he joined Al-Ittihad in January 2015.

International career

Szukała made his first appearance for the Poland national football team against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in 2013. He scored his first goal for the national side in the 7–0 victory over

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Personal life

Łukasz Szukała is a polyglot who speaks fluent Polish, English, French, German, and Romanian. He also has a German citizenship. His parents emigrated to Germany during his early childhood. He grew up in the region of

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

. Szukała is married to a sports news presenter from Romania, Raluca Hogyes, with whom he has a son (b. 2019).

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Honours

Steaua București *

: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 * Cupa României: 2014–15 * Supercupa României:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* Cupa Ligii: 2014–15 Individual *'' Gazeta Sporturilor'' Foreign Player of the Year in Romania: 2014Superlativele Gazetei Sporturilor pe anul 2014
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References

External links

Profile
at Kicker.de * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szukala, Lukasz 1984 births Living people Footballers from Gdańsk Footballers from Trier Polish emigrants to Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany Men's association football central defenders Polish men's footballers Poland men's under-21 international footballers Poland men's international footballers German men's footballers FC Metz players TSV 1860 Munich players TSV 1860 Munich II players Alemannia Aachen players ACF Gloria Bistrița players FC Universitatea Cluj players FC Petrolul Ploiești players FCSB players Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) players Ankaraspor footballers MKE Ankaragücü footballers Regionalliga players 2. Bundesliga players Liga I players Saudi Pro League players Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Polish expatriate men's footballers German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Polish expatriate sportspeople in France Polish expatriate sportspeople in Romania Polish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Polish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey German expatriate sportspeople in France German expatriate sportspeople in Romania German expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia German expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Polish sportsmen