I've noticed that marcin79 has started a few threads regarding the goalkeepers, Zurawski and Sobo's retirement. As we don't have a massive amount of posters in our little haven here I decided that we should have a single thread for all the discussion regarding lineups, possible friendlies and anything you want regarding Poland and Euro 2008. Just my two cents about all the topics, I believe Boruc will get the nod as he is the only goalkeeper starting at the moment and Leo seems to have lots of faith in him. He led us through most of qualifying and is a great character on and off the field and I believe he is one of the leaders on the team. I believe Zurawski will get transferred in the January transfer window (unless he suddenly starts getting playing time at Celtic). Possible destinations are Anderlecht in Belgium and L.A. Galaxy, though the latter is not something the kibice would want I dont think. He is our captain for a reason. As one of the earlier posters eluded to, there is just something about the way that he plays. He has a great ability to hold up the play and settle things down and I think he is very useful for our team in a supporting role. As for Sobo's retirement, it is a pretty interesting situation. I read that he was planning on playing a "goodbye" match against Serbia as his last official game but Beenhakker told him he would not make the subs bench for the game despite playing against Belgium. My personal opinion is that either Beenhakker told him or he came to the conclusion that the Polish NT was going in a different direction and he wouldnt receive a call up for Austria/Suisse despite his positive play. He decided to retire "on top" and allow Beenhakker to scout replacements in the DM position. Thankfully Poland has many DM's and as it appears that we will be going with a 4-5-1 formation for the Euro's with two DM's, the only question is who will pair Lewandowski as the other DM. Possibilities are Kazmierczak (only if he gets playing time at FC Porto), Murawski (who Leo seems to like), Dudka (injured, out for a month, I believe), and Radomski (injured since last year, no real clue as to how hes doing as the media doesnt really report a lot on him). 199 days until Euro 2008!
its impossible for this group considering we are in the same pot of Turkey and Russia POT 1 Switzerland (assigned to A1) Austria (assigned to B1) Greece Netherlands POT 2 Croatia Italy Czech Republic Sweden POT 3 Romania Germany Portugal Spain POT 4 Poland France Turkey Russia
If we won I wonder if we would have jumped into Pot 3, though I guess it doesn't make THAT big of a difference because then Spain would be in Pot 4, evening things out. God I hope we dont get the Netherlands from Pot 1.
The PZPN is working hard to schedule some friendlies in the upcoming few months. The most high profile of these is a possible match versus Argentina in Poznan in May. http://www.sport.pl/sport/1,65025,4687617.html A match versus the Ukraine has already been scheduled for the spring with the proceeds from the match going to the families of the miners who died in the tragedy in Donetsk. http://90minut.pl/news.php?id=648430 I read somewhere that the PZPN is scheduling a friendly with Montenegro in Cyprus, but I cant find the link. I've also heard that we have friendlies against Bosnia and Turkey, though I don't know the validity behind these rumours.
this would be a nice group Netherlands Italy Germany France as for us ill put in this random prediction Switzerland Sweden Portugal Poland
good news... especially the Ukraine proceeds good for them hopefully with all these friendlies our important starters/contributers can stay healthy
check out this video with ALL of Poland's goals in Euro 2008 qualifying: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zm_UpZELPSY it's really good
Have you been reading my posts in the Chicago forum I really hope Zurawski gets transferred to a club where he can make a difference and get some starting time. As much as I love him I think you've got to play competitive, first-team soccer early and often to really be ready for the international level. Not saying that he hasn't been good for us in qualifying I just wish he wouldn't be rusty when coming on for Poland. Also, I haven't been keeping up with Smolarek at Racing, is he still a constant starter? I would assume so but you never know with some of those giant leagues.
well the Chicago Fire thing was moreso a joke since it seems they would rather please the Mexican support rather than the Polish support in Chicago. I am from Chicago away at university but my parent's live out there so during the summer's i go to 4-5 Fire home matches each summer it'd be nice to have Maciej in Chicago at some point in time, an attempt to bring out all strong fanbases in the Chi as for Smolarek at Racing... the club is currently in 7th position in the table... i believe Racing has played 12 matches, Smolarek has started 7 matches and came on as substitute 4 matches for 11 total appearances. Munitis has been Racing's starting striker every match and Tchite and Smolarek have been battling to who partners with him. Tchite has 3 goals in 10 appearances while Smolarek has 1 goal in 11 appearances. So Ebi is getting the time he needs from the looks of it. (all this info on Racing i obtained at Sky Sports in the La Liga section, i am not a fan or supporter of Racing so i don't know the TRUE story on whats going on OR how Ebi has looked in his 11 appearances if indeed it is 11)
I think we all agree that we want Austria from Pot A and Romania from Pot C...As for Pot B, I wouldnt mind the Czechs. Keep in mind that all the groups will be difficult. Any group that we have a chance to get out of on paper prior to the start of the games is a dream group for us.
Excellent draw. Not easy, becasue there aren't easy groups here, but a chance to redeem ourselves against the Germans, establish ourselves by beating a team that many feel may be a dark horse (Croatia), and we got the easiest team fom pot A, and the weakest of all teams. With the way the brackets are set I believe we have a chance to advance to the semis.
Tchuss, Revenge will be sweet Looking forward to many discussions as we had prior to the WC! By the way, this group probably is the the best "fan" group out there! Fans of Poland, Germany and Coatia are all excellent, and Austria, well, its a home team...
It will be a pleasure . A very good draw for us. And very good seeding too. There will be no underestimating our first game as has been the case in the last two WC's; we're playing Germany so you know what youre going to get. Also, we dont have to play against the Austrians in their first game, which is usually a highly emotional affair. Although Croatia has been really hyped up lately by the English media, and dont get me wrong they are a strong side, they still are the weakest side in Pot B. Many people have them as the darkhorse, but we are a strong darkhorse ourselves. Also, I want to smack Slavan Bilic or whatever his name is for his stupid reaction that classless twat. Good luck Group C hahahah wow
Really? Me too. But only as long as we don't face idiotic trolls from both sites... Agree. Unfortunately the stadiums in Austria are a bit small.