EURO 2012 Focus - Poland
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As the EURO 2012 approaches, Extratime.ie will take an indepth look into each participating team. Paul Walsh looks at the EURO 2012 Group A side Poland.
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Where they are staying, where they are playing
Three interesting facts about the team
Poland’s 23 man squad
Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szcz?sny (Arsenal FC), Przemys?aw Tyto? (PSV Eindhoven), Grzegorz Sandomierski (KRC Genk).
Defenders: Sebastian Boenisch (SV Werder Bremen), Marcin Kami?ski (KKS Lech Pozna?), Damien Perquis (FC Sochaux-Montbéliard), ?ukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund), Marcin Wasilewski (RSC Anderlecht), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warszawa), Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (KKS Lech Pozna?).
Midfielders: Jakub B?aszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre), Kamil Grosicki (Sivasspor), Adam Matuszczyk (Fortuna Düsseldorf 1895), Adrian Mierzejewski (Trabzonspor A?), Rafal Murawski (KKS Lech Pozna?), Eugen Polanski (1. FSV Mainz), Ludovic Obraniak (FC Girondins de Bordeaux), Maciej Rybus (FC Terek Grozny), Rafa? Wolski (Legia Warszawa).
Forwards: Pawe? Bro?ek (Celtic FC), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Artur Sobiech (Hannover 96).
As one of the host nations Poland automatically qualified for Euro 2012 along with co-hosts Ukraine and will be competing at their second European Championship Finals.
Poland has a good pedigree in international football, evidenced by the fact they have qualified for seven World Cup final tournaments. However, it is a long time since the glory years of Polish football, which was in the 1970’s and early 1980s. This present Polish team will be trying to emulate those legendary teams who won Olympic gold in 1972 and silver in 1976 and finished third in the World Cups of 1974 and 1982..
Those teams contained legendary Polish footballers such as Lato (top scorer in the 1974 World Cup), Szarmach, Kutso and Zmuda. The present generation are led by their Borrussia Dortmund duo of Jakub Blaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowski. They have both been in great form for their club this season as Borussia Dortmund won the Bundesliga with a record point’s total. In their last game of the season on Saturday they beat Frieburg 4-0 with Blaszczykowski scoring two from midfield and Lewandowski, Dortmund’s top striker also getting a brace. Lewandowski was the third highest scorer in the Budesliga this season with 22 goals.
It’s not been all good news for Polish manager Franciszek Smuda, as he has seen his preparations disturbed by an incident involving midfielder Slawomir Peszko, who plays in Germay with FC Koln. Pezko was disciplined by his club after being detained by police after he had “consumed alcohol and got into a dispute with a taxi driver”. This follows previous drunken misbehaviour after a friendly against Australia. Smuda told Polish daily Przeglad Sportowy how he would deal with this incident. “Peszko is out, as this was a repeat offence. He won’t be in my team. End of Story.”
Where they are playing, where they are staying
While drink fuelled scandals will not held Poland’s preparations, the draw for Euro 2012 has been kind to them. They have been pitted against Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic. They will open the tournament in Warsaw against Greece on the 8th of June. Then they will face Russia on the 12th of June, also in Warsaw. The last group match will be in Wroclaw against the Czech Republic on the 16th of June.
Their base camp for the tournament will be in the capital Warsaw and they will use the home of KSP Polonia Warszawa as their training ground. The capital city will serve as a perfect base for the national team and the fact that Croatia, Greece and Russia are also basing themselves there is evidence of the excellent facilities it provides.
Three interesting facts about the team
So, given the healthy population of Poles that call Ireland their home now, what nuggets can I give you to impress your Polish work colleagues or neighbours? After all, if we are going to adopt any team as a second team for this championship, surely it will be the boys in “Red and White”.
- Well you could mention your admiration of the lengths they go to support their teams. For example, in 2011, several female supporters of Polish football team Hutnik Krakow stripped off and posed for a calendar in order to raise money for their struggling club.
- Also mention how one of Poland’s opponents in Group A Greece, have an awful record on Polish soil. There eight previous visits to Poland, have resulted in defeat, which should give hope to the host nation of at least one victory in their group.
- However, probably best not to mention the corruption scandal that rocked Polish football between 2005 and 2008 and lead to arrest of over 100 players, referees and club employees. The seedy stories of backhanders and bent referees is something Polish football authorities hope will be banished to the past if they are seen as successful in their hosting duties.
Their recent form has been mixed as the Poles have beaten Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary in three of their last five games. There was also a loss to Macedonia and the other game was a 0-0 draw with the perennial big championship under achievers Portugal.
About Paul Walsh
Paul Walsh is a contributor to Bohemians' matchday programme and first wrote for Extratime.ie in 2011 View Full Profile