Podolski tells his story: "The best? Ronaldo the Phenomenon. Arteta learned from Wenger"

"Football is more than trophies. Football is passion and improvement, and if you don't win it doesn't mean you're a loser." Lukas Podolski , a 39-year-old striker who lifted the World Cup with Germany in 2014 and has worn important jerseys such as Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Inter, describes his relationship with football in this way. In the new Sofascore video podcast, "A guest and a half", he spoke about many aspects that have made him one of the most important players of his generation. The format is based partly on the story of the protagonist's career but above all on various quizzes in which he will have to, for example, associate a characteristic with various football characters or give opinions on his abilities.

From his words, the team he remains closest to seems to be Arsenal, with whom he played from 2012 to 2015. Of his adventure in London, Podolski especially remembers the bond with Wenger and Arteta, at the time coach and captain of the Gunners: "Arsène was more than a coach, he was a good person on and off the pitch. I improved a lot thanks to him and he had a big impact on my career". Podolski still supports the red and whites and his former teammate Arteta who is fighting for the Premier League: "Mikel was strict, but it was normal because he was the captain. He often stayed after training and spoke to Arsène Wenger. He is doing an extraordinary job, it is his first job and I want him to win the Premier League".

The striker defends his choice to move to Japan to play for Vissel Kobe in 2017: "I think it's one of the most important leagues in Asia. The fans were fantastic, they weren't as explosive as in Turkey, Poland and Japan but they sang for 90 minutes and my family lived very well there."

Of his experience at Bayern, where he played from 2006 to 2009, he especially remembers the club's winning mentality: "It was a fortune to play there, you always had to want to win, whether it was the Champions League or a training session, otherwise you weren't a Bayern Munich player."

Among the various games he starred in during the interview, Podolski gives himself an average rating of 8.5 as a footballer after commenting with a rating from 1 to 10 on various aspects of the game such as technique, shooting, speed, etc. The best, however, at least for him, remains Ronaldo the Phenomenon: "When he played for Barcelona and then went to Inter he was fantastic. He had speed and technique combined with maximum power, never seen anything like it before. In a match between Germany and Brazil we exchanged shirts and he signed it for me, I framed it and hung it in my house".