Poldi Left to Ponder Role on the Bench

There is no doubt that Lukas Podolski played a very good World Cup. In all, the 21-year-old striker found the net three times, and equalled the scoresheets of greats like Ronaldo and Thierry Henry. Two of Podolski's goals came against the group of 16 game against Sweden in Munich on June 24.

The former FC Cologne idol hoped that he could repeat his tournament performance against the Swedes in a friendly at Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday if for no other reason than to make Bayern coach Felix Magath aware of his prowess in front of the net. Germany again demolished their helpless opponents, winning 3-0, but Sweden took Podolski, who is not in top physical form at the moment, out of the game.

And to boot, his defender, Anders Svensson, who had a run-in with Podolski during the friendly, had some choice words for the youngster afterwards.

"Podolski was crying the whole time. I went to him and told him he should stop. That's when he took a swipe at me," the IF Elfsborg fullback said. "He's a good player, but damn whiny."

Patience and confidence needed at moment

Despite the failed attempt to prove his true worth to Magath with a strong match on the national squad, Podolski has to make do with quiet patience at the moment.

"There's no reason for me to be in doubt. I always knew that I would sometimes sit on the bench at Bayern, particularly after the short amount of time I've had to prepare after the World Cup," he told soccer magazine kicker this week.

The overflowing pool of talent in Munich makes it easier for Magath to have a physically unfit Prince Poldi. Currently in front of the heir apparent in German soccer are ex-Dutch national player Roy Makaay and Paraguayan forward Roque Santa Cruz.

Spared the energy-sapping World Cup, Makaay played inspiring soccer in Bayern's 2006/07 debut last Friday, scoring once and taking on a greater leadership role after the departure of former midfield playmaker Michael Ballack. Santa Cruz was in Germany this summer, but Paraguay were knocked out unceremoniously in the first round, leaving him plenty of time to recuperate.

Not everything this week was bad

Until he is 100 percent in shape, the 11 million euro transfer to Bayern, however will have to listen to his coach repeatedly explain his decisions to the German press about why he is not starting. Even if Magath would prefer not to.

"The situation hasn't changed. (…) Particularly with Lukas, the players aren't so familiar with his timing and how he moves on the pitch. We had too little time to get used to it," Magath said.

The 21-year-old Podolski also faced another setback recently when he failed to stop a satirical show on the star on German public radio, WDR, called "Lukas' Diary." Podolski's lawyer called it "tasteless and without any standard." A court in Munich however recently ruled that the comedy show in no way denigrated Podolski.

Yet Podolski could be happy about one event this past week. His former and still beloved club FC Cologne started their campaign to exit the second division with a 2-0 victory. A reason for the Prince to smile. Still, the season is just one week old and Podolski's permanent place will eventually be on the field and not on the bench.