After the "brutal game"

“Born an idiot”! Fierce criticism of Podolski

Lukas Podolski receives a lot of criticism for his hard tackle.

(Bild: APA Pool/APA/dpa/Federico Gambarini)

Former German international Lukas Podolski caused trouble with several actions during his club Gornik Zabrze's match against Piast Gliwice. The 39-year-old also reaped harsh reactions on social media. 

Podolski was only substituted shortly before the end of the already charged derby. Nevertheless, the former international managed to attract attention with several unsightly actions. The first was a brutal foul in the 87th minute.

The 39-year-old attacking player pushed opponent Damian Kadzior from behind and - to the outrage of the opposing team - did not even receive a yellow card. Kadzior was hit hard on the ankle and was in persistent pain afterwards. 

Strong reactions on social media
But that was not all. Just two minutes later, "Poldi" was back in the spotlight. His team had just scored the decisive 1:0 and were celebrating exuberantly. Podolski took this as an opportunity to brutally knock over opponent Jakub Czerwinski while celebrating. The referee did not consider this an assault and only showed a yellow card. To top it all off, the 39-year-old then made an obscene gesture. 

This behavior not only caused bewilderment among opponents and Gliwice fans. There was a lot of criticism on social media. "You can't become an idiot, you have to be born an idiot," commented former Gliwice professional Gerard Badia. Other users declared Poldi a "pitch thug". 

However, "Poldi" showed no insight even after these comments. "You win trophies and play for big clubs with outbursts like that. Greetings, the idiot from Zabrze," he countered. Piast Gleiwitz responded with a photo showing Kadzior's swollen foot and the words: "If you call injuries to your opponents trophies, you can definitely add another one."