Poland will join Denmark, Singapore and hosts Thailand for the 40th King's Cup tournament to be played in Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, January 17th - 23rd. I assume this won't be the full Polish squad. Denmark are sending a reserve squad but Thailand and Singapore will be at full strength so it should be an even contest. I live in Nakhon Ratchasima and will be attending every game. News, match reports and photos will be posted on my website when the time comes. www.clubwebsite.co.uk/koratfc
Bramkarze: Mariusz Pawełek (Wisła Kraków), Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warszawa). Obrońcy: Piotr Brożek (Wisła), Tomasz Brzyski i Maciej Sadlok (obaj Ruch Chorzów), Kamil Glik (Piast Gliwice), Tomasz Jodłowiec (Polonia W.), Łukasz Mierzejewski (Cracovia). Pomocnicy: Tomasz Bandrowski, Sławomir Peszko (obaj Lech), Janusz Gol, Jakub Tosik (PGE GKS Bełchatów), Maciej Iwański i Maciej Rybus (obaj Legia), Jacek Kiełb (Korona), Patryk Małecki (Wisła), Tomasz Nowak (Polonia Bytom). Napastnicy: Robert Lewandowski (Lech), Dawid Nowak (PGE), Marcin Robak (Widzew).
Poland - Singapore 6:1 Call me a masochist, but I actually watched this game at 4 o'clock in the morning NY time. And, surprisingly, was happy with my decision to steal away a few hours from Morpheus. And not because Poland played well (they didn't, see below), and not because it was a quality game (I have seen much better games in the NCAA here in the states). But because it gave us a little glimpse into what is termed "szeroka kadra"....the players that may, at some point, play a part in the real NT. Anyway, the first half was awful, especially for our team. The defense was terrible: miles of space for the opponents, playing as if sleepwalking or moonwalking, poor goalkeeping. If both teams had converted their 100% chances, the score would have been 4:4, not 3:1 in our favor. Przyrowski in goal made a few bad mistakes, and if not for pure luck and a defender heading the ball from our goal line (I think it was Glik), just his mistakes could have cost us 2 more goals. Likewise the midfield did not impress in the first half. The passes were inaccurate, and the players seemed lazy and tired. The most common tactic was the long, flat forward pass through the center to Lewandowski, which resulted in at least five offside calls in the first half. Think of Szymkowiak in his prime, but not as well timed. A good tactic against an inferior team, and it worked a couple of times, and would have been better if not for all those offsides. This was interspersed with an occasional wing attack, usually started by Sadlok, who, although active on the sideline, was not good on defense - too sloppy and careless. The only players that impressed even half way in the first half were Lewandowski and Rybus. The rest was crap. Spore scored on a shot from outside of the penalty box by a naturalized Chinese player, who was given a five meter radius by the late defender. And Przyrowski could have done better with the shot as well. Second half was better. The passes were crisper and more accurate, the defense much less forgiving. And after Piotr Brozek and Malecki came on in 63rd minute, it was absolute Polish domination. And yes, we even had a guy named Gol play for us! Reminds me of an English Lit class I took in college, American Short Story in the 20th Century....there was a girl named Kathy Story in that class, highly f@ckable - she must have been since I remember her after 20 years...but I digress. Yes, so it was a complete Polish domination in the second half, and the score could and should have been much higher, had it not been for the lack of finishing and some lucky stops from the Singapore keeper. I am wondering why we played better in the second half: after all, Lewandowski (by far the best player on the field in the first) was gone...so it must have been SMUDA. He probably ripped some new a...holes all over in the locker room. There must have been blood and rectal tissue flying about everywhere! Really, the players seemed to have that proverbial fire in their eyes in the second, and they did play to their abilities (which is not very much, but still much more than the Singapore players). From what I have seen, the only players that have a sniff at the real NT are Lewandowski, Malecki, Rybus, Piotr Brozek, Glik, maybe Sadlok and Robak. The defense - BAD. With one "D". Not BADD, which would be good. Heard many good things about Jodlowiec - can't say one kind word after what I've seen. Przyrowski: not a chance of being even a number 5 keeper on the depth chart. I guess Glik was OK in the second half, when our defense got tighter...and that goal-line save, if it was indeed him! Over all, a strange game. Near empty stadium, a 40 year old Yugoslav guy in the Singapore team, three penalties for Poland....and all at 4 AM. Long live the KING OF THAILAND, OUR LORD AND SPONSOR!
Poland - Singapore 6:1 (3:1) Goals: Robert Lewandowski 26-pk, 37, Maciej Iwański 45-pk, Piotr Brożek 69, Patryk Małecki 80, Tomasz Nowak 88-pk - Shi Jiayi 39. Poland: Sebastian Przyrowski - Łukasz Mierzejewski (70. Jakub Tosik), Kamil Glik, Tomasz Jodłowiec, Maciej Sadlok - Jacek Kiełb (46. Janusz Gol), Maciej Iwański, Tomasz Bandrowski (70. Tomasz Nowak), Dawid Nowak (63. Patryk Małecki), Maciej Rybus (63. Piotr Brożek) - Robert Lewandowski (46. Marcin Robak). Singapore: Sunny - Baharudin, Chang (46. Alias), Yunos, Shah (55. Rahman) - Ishak (71. Sulaiman), Jiayi, Mushadad (85. Chang), Zailan (64. Noh), Nawaz (46. Nizam) - Durić.