Information AboutJerzy Dudek |
Jerzy "Jurek" Dudek (born March 23 , 1973 in Rybnik , Poland ) is a Polish Football player. He is currently playing as a Goalkeeper for Liverpool F.C. . He has been capped 54 times for the Polish National Team . BIOGRAPHY Signed by Liverpool on August 31 , 2001 as a replacement for Sander Westerveld , Dudek also plays regularly for the Polish National Team . After suffering a stressful Dudek was dropped from the Liverpool team after several bad performances in the English Premier League (particularly the Howler against Manchester United on December 1 , 2002 ) but since regained his place in the team after Chris Kirkland suffered an Injury . Dudek finally lost his position as Liverpool's first-choice keeper after the arrival of Jose Reina . Prior to Liverpool, Dudek played for Concordia Knurów , Sokół Tychy , and Feyenoord Rotterdam . Dudek's goalkeeping style is known as flamboyant and/or exaggerated - This had led to several costly mistakes, which have forced him down the pecking order at Anfield . On 25 May 2005 , Dudek became an instant hero in Liverpool after a characteristically mercurial performance in the Champions League final in Istanbul against A.C. Milan . Dudek made an incredible double save in the dying minutes of extra-time to prevent Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko from scoring what would almost certainly have been the match winner. Dudek helped win the trophy for Liverpool with two saves in the penalty shoot-out. Prior to each of the Milan penalties, Dudek performed a variety of movements (later called the Dudek Dance ) in an attempt to distract the penalty takers. During the post-match interview, Dudek stated that his flamboyant approach to the penalty shoot-out had been influenced by Bruce Grobbelaar , a former Liverpool goalkeeper. Grobbelaar was the hero of the 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over A.S. Roma in the 1984 Champions League Final after provoking Francesco Graziani to miss by wobbling his legs in mock fear. Since that final, Dudek has been replaced in the first team by Spanish keeper Jose Manuel (Pepe) Reina due to an elbow injury. He has since played one game for the Reserves, but did appear in three Premiership matches when Reina was suspended due to a three-match ban after being red-carded following a fracas with Chelsea's Arjen Robben earlier in the 2005-06 EPL campaign. Dudek married his wife Mirella (b. December 1974) in June 1996, and they have one son, Alexander, born in December of that year and one daughter, Wiktoria, born in January 2006. HONOURS AS PLAYER Feyenoord
Liverpool
Personal Honours
STATISTICS |
|
|