Jerzy Dudek

Born in Rybnik,[2] Dudek began playing football at 12 for Górnik Knurów. Six years later, he made his senior debut with the renamed Concordia in the third division, where he set a record of 416 minutes without conceding a goal.[6]

Dudek only played one season in the Ekstraklasa, appearing in roughly half of the matches for Sokół Tychy as the club finished in mid-table, making his first appearance in the competition against Legia Warsaw.[6]

Dudek left his country in 1996 at age 23, joining Feyenoord, but had to wait a year before he made his debut, proceeding to appear in all Eredivisie matches the following four campaigns combined. He won the national championship in 1998–99 along with the subsequent edition of the Johan Cruyff Shield, after a 3–2 win over Ajax.[7][8][9]

Dudek won the Dutch Golden Shoe award in 2000, becoming the first foreign player to win the award.[10] He played his final game for the Rotterdam side against Ajax on 26 August 2001.

Dudek before a game against Manchester City in 2007

Dudek and fellow goalkeeper Chris Kirkland joined Liverpool in late August 2001.[10] Despite the latter being the more expensive of the two, the former immediately replaced incumbent goalkeeper Sander Westerveld as coach Gérard Houllier's first-choice[10] and, following a first season where his clean sheets and fine performances helped the club finish second in the Premier League behind double-winners Arsenal, he was nominated alongside Oliver Kahn and Gianluigi Buffon for the UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year award.

The following campaign, Dudek rebounded from a series of errors in the league to win the League Cup with a player of the match performance against Manchester United in the final.[11][12] Pope John Paul II, who was a goalkeeper in his youth, met personally with him in 2004, saying that he was his fan and followed Liverpool whenever they played; the player presented the Pope with a souvenir goalkeeper shirt, and would later dedicate Liverpool's UEFA Champions League success to the late pontiff.[13]

Dudek was a catalyst in Liverpool's 2005 Champions League victorious run, performing a double save against A.C. Milan's Andriy Shevchenko at the end of extra time in the final, after the team had rallied from a 0–3 deficit to tie the match 3–3. He saved from Andrea Pirlo and Shevchenko in the ensuing penalty shootout, won 3–2. During the shootout, he attempted to distract the opposing players with the "spaghetti legs" tactic that was used by former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar in the 1984 European Cup Final.[15] Being European Cup winners for the fifth time, the English kept the trophy and received a multiple-winner badge, and he became the third Polish footballer after Zbigniew Boniek (with Juventus) and fellow goalkeeper Józef Młynarczyk (Porto) to win the Champions League – he also received his second Goalkeeper of the Year nomination;[16] a group of Liverpool fans, "The Trophy Boyz", recorded a novelty tribute single called "Du the Dudek", which became a top-40 hit in the United Kingdom.[17] Profits from the sale of the track went to the family of Michael Shields, a club supporter who was imprisoned in Bulgaria in controversial circumstances following the match.[18]

Dudek lost his starting position to new acquisition Pepe Reina in 2005–06, following an arm injury, only making 12 more appearances for the Reds in the following two seasons combined (eight in the league). Despite courting controversy by accusing manager Rafael Benítez of "treating him like a slave", he insisted he had no ill feelings towards the club or anyone associated with it and only wanted to leave after failing to make Poland's World Cup squad, but still stayed on for another year at the manager's request.[19] He was voted by fans at number 36 in the list of "100 Players Who Shook the Kop".[20][21]

In a poll conducted by UEFA.com, Dudek's double save from Shevchenko was voted the greatest Champions League moment of all time, ahead of Zinedine Zidane's left-footed volley against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 final and Ole Gunnar Solskjær's injury-time winner against Bayern Munich in 1999 for Manchester United.[22]

The 34-year-old Dudek moved to Real Madrid for 2007–08,[23] but only played in two La Liga games in four years due to the presence of Iker Casillas. Nevertheless, his attitude and work ethic earned praise from his fans, teammates, coaching staff and several Spanish journalists; his man of the match performance in his debut, in the penultimate match of the season against Real Zaragoza, was hailed in the Spanish press, despite not being enough to earn selection for Poland's squad for UEFA Euro 2008.[24]

In Juande Ramos' first match as Madrid manager, in December 2008, Dudek was handed a rare start in a 3–0 home defeat of Zenit Saint Petersburg as the club was already qualified from the Champions League group stages. In a match where Madrid's attacking play made headlines, he made several fine saves and exuded an air of calm solidity and confidence, particularly on crosses, earning a clean sheet in the process. This performance earned glowing praise from the manager, who highlighted the goalkeeper's qualities and referred to him as a "magnificent player";[25] it would be his last appearance of the campaign, which also saw a 5–0 aggregate loss against former club Liverpool in the round of 16.

Speculation was rife about Dudek's dissatisfaction with life at Real Madrid, and an end-of-season return to Feyenoord where he would work more closely with head coach Leo Beenhakker – his former boss at Feyenoord and also at the helm of the Poland national team – was a possibility. However, no move materialised, and with former teammate Jordi Codina leaving to join Getafe, the 36-year-old accepted a new one-year deal extension, while also speaking about his contentment.[26]

On 27 October 2009, Dudek saw his first action of the campaign in the first round of the Copa del Rey, in a 4–0 shock loss to minnows Alcorcón from Segunda División B, with the goalkeeper being one of the few on the losing end to perform well.[27][28][29] He also appeared in the second leg, an insufficient 1–0 home win.[30]

On 10 April 2010, following news of the air crash which claimed the lives of 96 Polish people – including President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and several top government officials – the players of both Real Madrid and Barcelona agreed, at Dudek's request, to observe a minute's silence for the evening's El Clásico match. His teammates also agreed to wear black armbands for the match.

I had no choice but to fulfill an obligation, and asked the officials to give a minute of silence before the most important match of the season. After an hour I came to the club president Florentino Pérez and director Jorge Valdano and they told me not to worry, and that everything will then be honored. They said, "We know what happened. Sincerest condolences. We are with you."[31]

On 15 July 2010, Dudek accepted another one-year contract to stay with Real Madrid.[32] As manager José Mourinho was appointed, he worked with his fourth coach in as many seasons; on 30 November, he was fined €5,000 for his role in the controversial sendings-off of teammates Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos in the Champions League group stage match against Ajax.[33]

Dudek made his first start of 2010–11 in the same competition, against Auxerre on 8 December. However, after making two impressive saves, he saw his action terminated after sustaining a jaw injury in a clash with opposing forward Roy Contout just before half-time.[34] He was successfully fitted with an intermaxillary fixation device and was out of action for six weeks before returning to training,[35] and was also praised for his performance by stand-in manager Aitor Karanka.[36]

Dudek was named as a substitute in the 2010–11 Spanish Cup final, a 1–0 victory over Barcelona. He made his final appearance for the Merengues on 21 May 2011 in an 8–1 home rout of Almería, and was substituted in the 77th minute to a guard of honour from his Real Madrid teammates.[37]