Born in Poland and raised in Germany, Eugen Polanski was recruited to help the former's UEFA European Championship effort in the summer of 2011 following an impressive campaign in the Bundesliga with 1. FSV Mainz 05. The combative defensive midfielder has also had a season in the Spanish Liga with Getafe CF.

• Born in Sosnowiec, he emigrated to Germany as a child and spent ten years in the youth sector of VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach before making his first-team debut at 18 in February 2005.

• Featured regularly as 'Gladbach finished tenth in 2005/06, scoring his first Bundesliga goal in a 1-1 draw against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, but suffered relegation the following term and fell out of favour in the second division as the team bounced back at the first attempt.

• Moved to Getafe in 2008 and made 26 league appearances for the Madrid outfit but returned to Germany after a year, joining Mainz, initially on loan.

• After a steady first season at Mainz he helped the club to seven straight wins at the start of the following Bundesliga campaign, in which the club eventually finished fifth to qualify for the UEFA Europa League.

• A former captain of the Germany Under-21 team, he opted for a senior international career with Poland, making his debut in a friendly against Georgia in Lubin on 10 August 2011.