Biography
Who is Jerzy Dudek?
Early life and start in Poland
Jerzy Dudek was born in Rybnik. He began his football path at 12 with Górnik Knurów. He joined the Concordia senior squad six years later in the third division. He went 416 minutes without allowing a goal to set a record.
He played one season in the Ekstraklasa for Sokół Tychy. He appeared in about half of the matches for that club. His first game in that competition was against Legia Warsaw.
Success in the Netherlands and England
In 1996, Jerzy moved to Feyenoord in the Netherlands. He waited a year to debut but then played every Eredivisie match for four seasons. He won the national championship in 1998-99. He also won the Johan Cruyff Shield after a 3-2 win over Ajax. In 2000, he became the first foreign player to win the Dutch Golden Shoe. He was also voted Polish Footballer of the Year that year.
Jerzy Dudek joined Liverpool in August 2001. He took the starting spot from Sander Westerveld. He helped the club finish second in the Premier League. He won the League Cup with a strong performance against Manchester United. In 2004, he met Pope John Paul II and gave him a goalkeeper shirt.
Time at Real Madrid
He joined Real Madrid for the 2007-08 season. Iker Casillas was the primary goalkeeper, so Jerzy played only two La Liga games over four years. He earned a man of the match award on his debut against Real Zaragoza. In December 2008, he started in a 3-0 win against Zenit Saint Petersburg. He signed contract extensions in 2009 and 2010.
In October 2009, he played in a 4-0 Copa del Rey loss to Alcorcón. He also appeared in the second leg where the team won 1-0. In 2010, he asked Real Madrid and Barcelona to hold a minute of silence for Polish air crash victims. He was fined 5,000 euros in November 2010 for his role in the sendings-off of Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos. He suffered a jaw injury against Auxerre in December 2010. His final game for the club was an 8-1 win over Almería on May 21, 2011.
International career and honors
Jerzy Dudek earned 60 caps for the Poland national team. His first call-up was in 1996 for a game against Russia in Moscow. He won his first cap in February 1998 against Israel. He played nine of ten qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup. He represented Poland in the finals in Japan and South Korea. He once captained the team in a friendly against Estonia.
He received the Gold Cross of Merit and a Piłka nożna magazine plebiscite. He was nominated twice for the UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year award. He is the third Polish footballer to win the Champions League after Zbigniew Boniek and Józef Młynarczyk.
Birthday and age
Jerzy Dudek was born on March 23, 1973, which makes Jerzy 53 years old today. That birthday falls under the Aries sign. Jerzy shares the date with 33 other famous people.
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