I'll bite as well then. 1. Like the guys said, it's the seniority (number of appearances) that usually decides who gets to be the captain. If neither Klos, Bak nor Dudek play in the World Cup, the next most senior player will be Krzynowek (54 caps), and then, believe it or not, Michal Zewlakow (52 caps). Then Zurawski with 48. 2. Smolarek is the most technically gifted player (one on one, ball control), but IMO skill technical is not of highest importance to our team and the way we play as a whole, although it is certaily helpful and nice to watch. Szymkowiak is a very smart player, knows where and how to distribute, while his individual skills are not as refined as Smolarek's he may be of more importance to the WC success than Ebi. 3. While Radomski can be a brute, Poland does not have a tough "enforcer" type of a guy. Hajto, who won't go to Germany, was probably the last one that we had like that. On the other hand Poland does play a very physical game, and guys like Jop and especially Sobolewski can make life miserable for more fragile opposition players. 4. Pros: Like Astrogoth said very fast wings. Great goalkeeping. Unhearalded yet deadly strikers. Cons: defense that can be sluggish, but that may not be as bad as it was in the past, though. Lack of depth everywhere except goalies and strikers. (I guess I am virtually saying the same thing that Astrogoth said here, but it's no mystery). 5. No clear cut rival. While we always seem to be drawn with England, to them we are (in the last 15 years at least) nothing more than beating boys. Germany, yes, in the 70's but no longer...let's hope that our win in Group A changes that . In the 50's and 60's there have been truly bloody rivalries between Poland and the Soviet Union, but no meaningful games since then. Lately wee seem to have been playing the US a lot (about once per year), so maybe that is a start of a pretty good rivalry.
I dont think anything with the U.S. will start, as we are with them in Iraq, and how nice the football federations are to eachother. Plus, there are too many Poles living in the U.S. to hate that country. Although this stuff is NSR, i think you cant have a good rivalry without the right political background.
Right, I meant that as a purely sports oriented rivalry. Since we played them so often recently (and in the past as well), it seems to me that many Americans are kind of using us as a watermark for their team, and how they compare to other countries.
Yeah thats true. Although this isnt part of this, but I just recently found out that Kaiserlautern(city where Poland plays the U.S. in a friendly & where U.S. plays Italy in the WC) is a huge military base for the Americans. I read on one of the threads or the US Soccer site that they expect over 50 000 people at the game.
I sure hope that many Polish fans will be there as well, since many Polish live in that part of Germany, never mind those that drive across the border. And, honestly, I think these high numbers of expected American GI's are overblown. While it's great that they support their country, I don't think that many of them are soccer fans. I expect about 15,000 fans, most of them Polish.
The stadium in Kaiserslautern only holds 43.450, so i doubt that 50,000 people will show up. The entire military base would have to show up. Even if most of the fans are pro US so what, it's not like they will make any major noise.
We are with them in Iraq true, but does the public, especialy the youth public agree with us being there??? I'm sure nothing will happen, as i don't see too many of the hooligans/ultras going to a friendly right before the WC.
Thank you very much, you helped me a lot. May I make just one more question? Well, before that, I must confess that names like Baszczynski, Krzynowek and Szymkoviak are very difficult for us, brazilians, to pronnounce. If these names were written in English (respecting the way they are pronnounced in Polish), how would it be? Again, thanks for the attention.
Artur Boruc- Ar-toor Bow-roots Tomasz Kuszczak- Tow-mash Koosh-chuck Marcin Baszczyski- Mahr-chin Bash-chin-ski Michal Zewlakow- Mee-how Zhe-vlak-ov Jacek Krzynowek- Ya-tzek Shin-oov-ek Miroslaw Szymkowiak- Mee-ros-wav Shim-kov-iak Some of the more difficult ones that I can think of.
Who are Polands defenders. Don't suggest Hajito, Klos or Waldoch, as they are too old and were shown up badly in 2002. I would go with Kus at CB, Zekalow at LB, Lukasiewicz at RB and the youngest out of Leandowski, Jop or Rzasa at the other CB position.
Hajto and Waldoch are done for. They wont play one more single match in the NT. Klos will be CB with Jop, Bąk or Lewandowski. Kus doesn't stand a chance either for the first team spot or the 23 man WC squad. LB will be Zewlakow for sure imho. Just dont see another choice. Lukasiewicz? Same as Kus - you must be joking. Baszczynski can be sure of his first team place
Agreed. Only one friendly between now and the end of May, so there wont be any major shakeups in the NT, definitely not on the defence where the choices are limited. LB and RB starting positions are pretty much spoken for. Klos will be starting in CB. I would like to see Jop as the other starting CB, with Bak or Lewandowski coming off the bench.
What position is Baszczynski? Is Zekalow in the team? And, why not Kus or Lukasiewicz? They are both in their early 20s, while Klos, and Hajito are in their 30s, which is too old and means they will be lacking in pace.
Baszczynski is our right back and it doesn't seem likely to change at the moment. While it is true that Klos and Bak are old they posess heaps of experience, and have played each other for a long while now. There are many examples of defenders having their best years after they hit thirty. Even if they won't go to Germany I'm pretty sure that it will be Jop, Lewandowski, and most likely Glowacki and Bosacki as subs in that unlikely situation. Why do you belive Kus, who made his last performance a few years now, and Lukasiewicz, who I don't recognize at all, as deserving a place in the squad?
Let's see how Kus does at Queen's Park Rangers FC. Just the fact that you don't even recognize who Lukasiewicz is, says alot.
relax, were all friends here...at least in theory anyways, since were all polish supporters and theres not that many of us on the site
The fact that Kus transfered to a Championship outfit means very little really. Rasiak was really impressive for Derby but so what? He still sucks at international level. As for Lukasiewicz, pardon my ignorance, but if he is so good than maybe you should enlighten me?
Plan przygotowań reprezentacji Polski do MŚ (poszczególne terminy mogą ulec jeszcze niewielkim zmianom): 26-28 lutego - zgrupowanie przed meczem z USA 1 marca - mecz towarzyski z USA w Kaiserslautern 26-28 marca - zgrupowanie przed meczem z Arabią Saudyjską 29 marca - mecz towarzyski z Arabią Saudyjską w Rijadzie 15 maja - ogłoszenie 23-osobowej kadry na MŚ 23-29 maja - zgrupowanie (miejsce do potwierdzenia, być może w Doniecku) 30 maja - mecz towarzyski z Kolumbią w Szczecinie 31 maja - wyjazd do Barsinghausen 2 czerwca - mecz towarzyski z Chorwacją (miejsce do ustalenia) 9 czerwca - pierwszy mecz MŚ z Ekwadorem w Gelsenkirchen http://sport.gazeta.pl/sport/1,65025,3139721.html
did he say he needed 26 days to properly prepare the team? We better win the WC with that kind of timeline...
This should be the team for Germany:- Boruc (25) Zekalow Jop Bak Baszczyński Total age pof defence 108 Radomski Krzynówek Mila Total age of wingers 49 Sobolewski Total age of CDM and CAM 54 Zurawski Smolarek Total age of strikers 54 Total age of team = 290/11=26.3636363636 (Average age)!
uhhh, SZYMKOWIAK!?!?!!? Radomski, no way, never. Mila as a winger???Itll look more like this: ................................. Boruc................................ Zewlakow..........Jop..................Klos..............Baszczynski Krzynowek..........Szymkowiak.........Sobolewski........Smolarek ..................Zurawski...................Frankowski...................... Theres your winning lineup.