Klose and Podolski are Polish

[grimfan]

Does it bother Germany fans that their success is largely due to foreigners? Are Polish fans bitter towards these "traitors"?

[dooweewoowee]

I dont think the Polish fans are bitter. Most likely just proud of how their countrymen "carry" Germany lol.

[Ero]

I dont think the Polish fans are bitter. Most likely just proud of how their countrymen "carry" Germany lol.

like croatians with australia :lol:

[nachi88]

Ok, we've been through this discussion many times.

Here's a brief answer.

Germany's naturalisation laws till the mid 90's were based on ethncity. People who could claim/prove German ethnicity could get German nationality. That way many ethnic German people from Spain to the volga migrated to German. A fair percentage of those spoke German as their mother tongue too. Keeping this fact aside, Poland has a fair share of ethnic Germans and German speakers. Many migrants who come from Poland are of these categories. Klose has one German parent, but was born in that part of Poland in which you have a substantial concentration of German population.He migrated to Germany as a kid and learnt his football here.
Also, don't let a name ending in 'ski' fool you. Many people in Eastern Germany alos tend to have that kind of a name, and they are native Germans and German speakers. The name is generally after the village/town the person originates from. Suppose a persons ancestor was from katow in Poland, and was baptised in 1770, then his name would be Katowski. This practice is prevalent among the Polsih people, and the Germans in Poland also took up the same habit,

[Ero]

Also, don't let a name ending in 'ski' fool you. Many people in Eastern Germany alos tend to have that kind of a name, and they are native Germans and German speakers. The name is generally after the village/town the person originates from. Suppose a persons ancestor was from katow in Poland, and was baptised in 1770, then his name would be Katowski. This practice is prevalent among the Polsih people, and the Germans in Poland also took up the same habit,

so dirk Nowitski is he polish but born in germany or is he German?

[aussie_made]

USTASA youre racist to Australians

[jose jebaka]

Podolski's parents are both Polish people. His father was a football player and he played for Szombierki Bytom in Polish League and his mother was a handball player and she even played for Polish National Team.

[nachi88]

so dirk Nowitski is he polish but born in germany or is he German?

Nowitzki is a German. He speaks German and his parents are German. Just his name is Polish sounding, probably becuase his ancestors come form a place that is in present day Poland.

[Canadian Kraut]

EVERY team has players on it that were born in another country.
Klose and Pod moved with their families to Germany when they were very young and had all their training in Germany. These guys stand out because they have scored many goals, but football is a TEAM sport. The entire team contributes to the goals they score.
So stop with it already. EVERY team has players on it like Klose and Pod. They just don't play for a team like Germany :)

[tdr]

people shouldn't be angry because of this, it happens to everyone

[dooweewoowee]

ya know....and I really dont mean any disrespect to the moderator who replied or anyone else BUT.. who cares where they "learned their football"?? The fact is that Klose and Podolski have Polish blood running through their veins , were born in Poland as Polish people and should be playing for no team other than Poland in a World Cup which is supposed to display the football prowess of countryman vs. countryman and may the best man win basically. If we allow this to happen, why not let Ronaldo come buy a house in California and become a US citizen and play for the USA instead of Brazil. Its really sad and ruins the integrity of the World Cup. I think there has even been some national press and discomfort about these 2 Polish guys playing for Germany. Its going to really leave a question mark on anything Germany does this Cup because they probably the 2 most gifted players Germany has

[Maxpayne]

What to be angry about? Ok well so you prefer having some 2 losers instead of stars? Noooo... I think fans will be angry for not having them in team instead.

[flavze]

like croatians with australia :lol:
yeah but the differance in the Aus-Cro instance is that all your so called Croatian's that are playing for Australia that you keep harping on about were actuall BORN IN AUSTRALIA, unlike the 3 Australians you have playing in the Croation team!!!:D

[tdr]

^that's very true

[grimfan]

Klose was asked to play for Poland but he refused.

[m2lions]

What if one parent is born in Poland and the other Germany (or any two countries for that matter) then where do they play? Thats right, whichever one they choose or are good enough for or whatever. Also where you are raised and learn to play football does matter. If you move at a young age then the home where you moved to feels more like your home than where you were actually born.

And arent Poland and Germany somewhat intertwined since WWII? Regardless the granny rule seems to be fair enough. It is the same as people who choose to play for England instead of Northern Ireland. What about dual citizenship too? In the end players want to play (if they are eligible for more than one country's national team) for the more successful one. Poland is less successful than Germany and until that changes people eligible for both will probably choose Germany.

Sidenote: Klose's father was an ethnic German.