Perhaps someone can help me out: If you watch this YouTube Clip (starting at 1:01), you'll see the Polish players lineup for the national anthem. Can anyone put names to the players? I recognize Smolarek, Buncol, Boniek and Mlynarczyk. The other players' names are Dziuba, Zmuda, Janas, Jalocha, Skrobowski, Kupcewicz and Ogaza. [ame=www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfGqTOPyjPQ]Poland v Germany 1981[/ame] 1 Smolarek 2 Buncol 3 ? 4 ? 5 ? 6 ? 7 Boniek 8 ? 9 ? 10 Mlynarczyk 11 ?
Very interesting 4. Zmuda (but see below) 5. Kupcewicz (I'm about 99% sure on that one) 8. Janas (100% sure) The problem here is also that number 9 also looks like Zmuda (they both look like Hawkeye from MASH). The guy between Mlynarczyk and the refs is the captain, so we have to look up in the "Bialo Czerwoni Encyclopedia" who the captain was for that match to identify him...I'll do it later if you don't have that book... Others I have no clue.
OK, we're in luck. The Bialo Czerwoni Encyclopedia has a pre-match photo of the Poland team for this game, with all the players indicated. So it appears that it is like this-: 1 Smolarek 2 Buncol 3 Jalocha 4 Ogaza 5 Kupcewicz 6 Skrobowski 7 Boniek 8 Janas 9 Zmuda 10 Mlynarczyk 11 Dziuba (captain)
No problem, the history of the Polish NT is one of my hobbies. I still can't get over how similar Zmuda and Ogaza look, though! I believe that the reason Zmuda wasn't the captain was because he was partly black-listed after the infamous "Okecie affair" few months prior, in which he, Boniek and Terlecki went against the coaching staff in voicing support for the drunken Mlynarczyk (all four being by far the core and best players at that time). It was a huge black eye to the Polish NT...but the funny thing was, only Terlecki got the lifetime ban, while the other three were just too important to the team, so they stayed on. But strangely enough, the coach was dismissed.
Thanks for the background info! So you rate Terlecki as one of the best Polish players of that period? Boniek, Mlynarczyk and Zmuda are all well-known outside of Poland, but Terlecki is a player I would have rated as as an 'ordinary' player like perhaps Janas, Majewski, Bulzacki, Jalocha and the likes. What position did Terlecki play?
Yeah, I'd say he was in the top five at the time - but that's my opinion, one that's shared by many, but also a controversial one with some. Played as an attacking mid or a forward, very creative and quick. Certainly one of Poland's best talents of the generation between the two third place finishes at the WC - but unlike the other three players never made it to the WC (I think he was injured for the 1978 WC), never played in any huge games, so not as well known internationally. His most important matches were two qualifiers for the 1980 Euros against Holland (won 2:0 at home and tied 1:1 away). Twenty nine NT appearances, with seven goals scored. Only active for about three and a half years in Poland, then moving to the US. I believe he played for the NY Cosmos after leaving Poland, but then again, who hasn't, so that's not really a good measuring stick. Apparently did well playing indoor soccer in the US in the early 80's, but I don't know much about that, other than he appears on a number of indoor soccer threads on Big Soccer. More telling is that in 1976 he was voted by the Polish sport press (jointly with Boniek), as the best new soccer talent in the country. I remember meeting him in person (I was just a very young kid then, and he was at the height of his career, his visit was arranged at our club), and what I remember the most was the way the ladies would just fawn over him - he was a handsome dude, and something of a playboy. He showed us some moves, answered a few questions, and disappeared after about fifteen minutes. Who knows how his career would have turned out had it not been for that NT ban...