Łukasz Szukała (born 26 May 1984) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Łukasz Szukała
Szukała with Steaua București in 2014
Personal information
Full name Łukasz Szukała[1]
Date of birth (1984-05-26) 26 May 1984 (age 42)
Place of birth Gdańsk, Poland
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Position Centre-back
Youth career
1994–1997 TuS Fortuna Saarburg
1997–1998 SV Trassem
1998–2000 Eintracht Trier
2000–2003 Metz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Metz B 9 (0)
2004–2007 1860 Munich II 51 (4)
2004–2008 1860 Munich 44 (0)
2008–2010 Alemannia Aachen 26 (2)
2008 Alemannia Aachen II 1 (0)
2010–2011 Gloria Bistrița 28 (2)
2011–2012 Universitatea Cluj 29 (0)
2012 Petrolul Ploiești 2 (1)
2012–2015 Steaua București 65 (12)
2015 Al-Ittihad 12 (3)
2015–2017 Osmanlıspor 12 (0)
2017–2019 Ankaragücü 6 (0)
Total 285 (24)
International career
2003 Poland U19 3 (0)
2005 Poland U21 3 (0)
2013–2015 Poland 17 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

After starting out his career at Metz B in France, Szukała went on to compete professionally in Germany, Romania, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, respectively.

At international level, Szukała represented the Poland senior team between 2013 and 2015, earning 17 caps and one goal in the process.

Club career

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Universitatea Cluj

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In June 2011, Szukała joined Universitatea Cluj on a three-year contract.[2]

Steaua București

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In August 2012, Łukasz signed with Romanian giants Steaua București.[3] On 4 November 2012, Szukała scored his first goal for title-chasing Steaua in a 3–1 win against their Bucharest arch-rivals, Dinamo, guaranteeing him a good relationship with the very demanding Steaua fans.[4] In 2014, he was voted as the best foreign footballer in Liga I.[5]

Al Ittihad

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On 3 January 2015, he signed a contract with Al-Ittihad, when he entered his final six months of the deal with Steaua.[6] The two clubs reached an agreement to release the player before his contract with Steaua ended, thus he joined Al-Ittihad in January 2015.[7]

International career

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Szukała made his first appearance for the Poland national football team against Denmark in 2013.

He scored his first goal for the national side in the 7–0 victory over Gibraltar.

Personal life

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Łukasz Szukała is a polyglot who speaks fluent Polish, English, French, German, and Romanian.

He also has a German citizenship. His parents emigrated to Germany during his early childhood. He grew up in the region of Trier.[8]

Szukała is married to a sports news presenter from Romania, Raluca Hogyes, with whom he has a son (b. 2019).[9] He lives in Bucharest with his family, where he owns a restaurant.

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[10][11]
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Metz B 2003–04 Championnat de France Amateur 9090
1860 Munich II 2004–05 Regionalliga Bayern 161161
2005–06 Regionalliga Bayern 141141
2006–07 Regionalliga Bayern 141141
2007–08 Regionalliga Bayern 7171
Total 514514
1860 Munich 2004–05 2. Bundesliga 18000180
2005–06 2. Bundesliga 15000150
2006–07 2. Bundesliga 200020
2007–08 2. Bundesliga 900090
Total 44000440
Alemannia Aachen 2008–09 2. Bundesliga 18220202
2009–10 2. Bundesliga 8021101
Total 26241303
Alemannia Aachen II 2008–09 NRW-Liga 1010
Gloria Bistrița 2010–11 Liga I 28220302
Universitatea Cluj 2011–12 Liga I 29000290
Petrolul Ploiești 2012–13 Liga I 2121
Steaua București 2012–13 Liga I 204106[b]0274
2013–14 Liga I 2944012[c]01[d]1465
2014–15 Liga I 164000011[e]01[d]0284
Total 651250002902110113
Al-Ittihad 2014–15 Saudi Professional League 12330153
Osmanlıspor 2015–16 Süper Lig 10000100
2016–17 Süper Lig 20300050
2017–18 Süper Lig 0000
Total 1203000150
Ankaragücü 2017–18 TFF 1. Lig 501050
2018–19 Süper Lig 100010
Total 601060
Career total 28524181002902133426
  1. Includes DFB-Pokal, Cupa României, King's Cup, Turkish Cup
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. 1 2 Appearance in Supercupa României
  5. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

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[12]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Poland
201340
201461
201570
Total171
Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Szukała goal.[12]
List of international goals scored by Łukasz Szukała
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 7 September 2014 Estádio Algarve, Faro, Portugal 7  Gibraltar 5–0 7–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying

Honours

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References

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