Poland - EURO 2021

17/04/2012 2 Comments

For Polish team Euro 2012 is the most important football tournament in history. As the tournament co-hosts with Ukraine we will host the 14 best representations of the Old Continent. This will be our second start in the European Championship, the first four years ago on the fields of Austria and Switzerland we finished in the group stage with just one point gained.

Now, as before four years ago, Polish players goal is a minimum to advance from the group. The task was made easier for us by the December draw in which to our group went the representations of Greece, the Czech Republic and Russia. Many journalists and the players after the draw wanted to utter just one sentence: it’s not possible not to advance from this group. We will see the result in June.

The greatest successes in the history of the White and Reds were two third places at the World Championships in 1974 and 1982 and the Olympic gold in 1972 and two silver medals in 1976 and 1992. As co-organizer of the tournament Poland is guaranteed to start in the tournament through which since 2009 we play only friendly matches which may explain our big drop in the FIFA ranking. During the term of Franciszek Smuda we were able to overcome the Ivory Coast team, among others, to outplay Argentina’s third team, to tie with Mexico, Portugal and Germany and to lose to Italy and France.

It is hard to say much about the shape of our team but its composition is mostly well known. Wojciech Szczęsny is sure to take the place at the goalpost, but after a conflict with Artur Boruc, who is doing fantastically in Fiorentina and consistently not appointing him to the grouping of the team, the goalkeeper number two is still unknown.

At the backs we will certainly see Łukasz Piszczek. Marcin Wasilewski, Damien Perquis, Tomasz Jodłowiec and Sebastian Boenisch will be the mainstay of our team. Franz Smuda will have for his support Błaszczykowski, Dudek, Polański, Obraniak, Peszek, Mierzejewski and Grosicki.

In the attack a certain place belongs to the leader of our team and the Bundesliga star, Robert Lewandowski. Ireneusz Jeleń, after having recovered from an injury and being transferred to Lille, lost his place in the starting eleven and lately even in the match eighteen. If he does not recover by June and does not start playing, we will probably have to rely only on the goals shot by Lewandowski. The closer to the Euro the more questions and controversies arise. However, Franciszek Smuda seems to be certain of the winning and he knows that the result of the representation at the tournament depends on him only.

It is difficult to predict the outcome in Polish group. We are the weakest team in the championship, but we play at home. In the group we will play against teams with which we are capable of winning. If the players avoid injury, and are prepared at the championship there is 110 percent chance for a good result. Poland have big aspirations to become one of the black horses of this event. I am convinced that all the Poles on the day of the beginning of the Euro will join as always during the matches of our team for the championship and we will together help the players who will give all their effort and will prove that the Polish national football team can become a spectacular success.

Poland Euro 2012 Squad

Goalkeepers: Grzegorz Sandomierski (Jagiellonia Białystok), Wojciech Szczęsny (Arsenal Londyn), Przemysław Tytoń (PSV Eindhoven).

Defenders: Sebastian Boenisch (Werder Brema), Marcin Kamiński (Lech Poznań), Damien Perquis (FC Sochaux), Łukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund), Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht Bruksela), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warszawa), Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznań).

Midfielders: Jakub Błaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre), Kamil Grosicki (Sivasspor), Adam Matuszczyk (Fortuna Duesseldorf), Adrian Mierzejewski (Trabzonspor), Rafał Murawski (Lech Poznań), Ludovic Obraniak (Girondins Bordeaux), Eugen Polanski (FSV Mainz), Maciej Rybus (Terek Grozny), Rafał Wolski (Legia Warszawa).

Forwards: Paweł Brożek (Celtic Glasgow), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Artur Sobiech (Hannover 96).

Poland Euro 2012 Group Matches

Friday, June 8, 2012 Poland v Greece (18:00 CET in Warsaw)
Tuesday, June 12, 2012 Poland v Russia (20:45 CET in Warsaw)
Saturday, June 16, 2012 Czech Republic v Poland (20:45 CET in Wroclaw)

Poland Quick Facts

Best World Cup Result: Third Place (1974 and 1982)
Best European Championship Result: Group Stage (2008)
Record Scorer: Vladimir Beschastnykh (26 goals from 1992 to 2003)
Most Capped Player: Michał Żewłakow (102 caps from 1999 to 2011)
Coach: Franciszek Smuda
Captain: Jakub Błaszczykowski

EURO 2021