Jerzy Dudek - Personal Life

Personal Life

Dudek and his wife, Mirella, have one son, Aleksander, and two daughters, Wiktoria and Natalia. His father was a miner and he spoke of himself having taken training to follow in his father's footsteps before his opportunity to play football came along. His brother, Dariusz, is also a footballer.

Dudek refused to wear the '13' jersey for two seasons after arriving at Real Madrid, stating that Polish goalkeepers generally do not use 13; the numbers 1, 12 and 22 are traditionally used. He therefore wore '25' as it was the next best thing while Codina wore '13' until his departure. Dudek wore '13' for the 2009–10 season under Manuel Pellegrini, but was handed back the '25' shirt under Mourinho. In his first season at Liverpool he wore the '12' jersey because Westerveld was still in possession of the '1' squad number.

In 2005, Dudek received the title of the honourable citizen of Knurów, during a charity match called "Jerzy Dudek & Friends." He also made his Polish television debut as an analyst for the 2005 UEFA Super Cup final between Liverpool and PFC CSKA Moscow, which he missed due to injury. In 2006, while on summer vacation in Poland, his home on the Wirral Peninsula was burgled and several valuables and treasured football memorabilia were stolen. Thanks to the efforts of the Merseyside Police Department his collection of shirts, medals and awards was recovered, along with most of his valuables.

Dudek also stated that he would like to start a football academy in Poland with his brother after retiring from football. He settled with his family in Kraków.