Recent results for Group A teams Since we don’t seem to know much about each other’s teams (especially fans of Poland and Germany don’t know much about Costa Rica and Ecuador and vice versa), here is a thread where we will learn more about the teams in our group based on their recent results. I got this idea when I realized that I didn’t know that CR played recently against France, and that CR fans didn’t know that Poland played against them recently as well. Then I tried to find results of our fellow group members online, but outside of WC Qualifiers I didn’t have much luck. So let’s post recent (2 years or so) games and their results for our teams against top competition (let’s leave out matches against crappy teams), together with comments about each match. I’ll start with Poland: Poland – Ecuador 3:0 (Friendly, Neutral ground) 10/2005 Match played in very difficult conditions to which Poland was able to adjust and Ecuador did not. Poland were missing some of their top offensive players, while Ecuador their key defensemen. England – Poland 2:1 (WCQ) 10/2005 England dominated a game where both teams have already qualified for the WC. Poland played for the tie, and for a long time were close to achieving that goal. England have proved just too good on their own pitch, though. Poland – Wales 1:0 (WCQ) 9/2005 Our not so great defense was able to shut down Giggs and Earnshaw, which is a success in itself. Poland – Austria 3:2 (WCQ) 9/2005 Austria’s last hurrah, a win or a tie would have given them a hope of advancing to the World Cup. Despite going ahead 2:0, the last ten minutes when the Austrians came close to equalizing were truly stressful for Polish fans. Austria is not a bad team; they tied England at home, and were probably unfortunate that they drew into a group that had two much better teams. Poland – Israel 3:2 (Friendly, Neutral ground) 8/2005 Final of the “semi-friendly” Lobanovsky Tournament. Israel beat Ukraine to make it to the finals. Poland – Serbia Montenegro 3:2 (Friendly, Neutral ground) 8/2005 Lobanovsky Tournament first match. S&M is a WC finalist which many are picking to be a dark horse of the tournament. Poland – Mexico 1:1 (Friendly, Neutral ground) 4/2005 Played in Chicago, “B” teams for both sides. Poland – Azerbaijan 8:0 (WCQ) 3/2005 I know Azerbaijan is not a top team, but this match deserves to be included for the sheer barrage of goals with which an in-form, full strength Poland team destroyed the World Cup dreams of the Azeris and truly put them in their place. Poland – Belorus 1:3 (Friendly) 2/2005 A bad loss, inexplicable since the Poland team at that time was nearly full-strength. Belarus is not a bad team though, but this loss proves that anyone can beat us at any time. France – Poland 0:0 (Friendly) 11/2004 Virtually loaded French team (only key player missing was Zidane) . Henry and company stopped by our “crappy” defense. USA – Poland 1:1 (Friendly) 7/2004 A “B” Poland team ties a pretty top shelf US team in Chicago, with more Polish than US fans in attendance. Sam’s Army is getting their panties in a wad over this one. Poland – Denmark 1:5 (Friendly) 8/2004 A huge loss to a very good team that doesn’t make the World Cup. Another score that shows that when our team isn’t “on” it can be beat by anyone. Poland – Greece 1:0 (Friendly) 5/2004 Poland beats the team (on an own goal) that in a month will become the European Champion. Are we that good or is the emperor naked? Poland – USA 0:1 (Friendly) 3/2004 A well deserved win for the US on European soil. In our defense Polish team has just changed coaches and was going through major tactical and personnel changes.
i think this is a good idea. I don't remember how long ago this was but: Poland 3: Italy 1 (Friendly in Poland) Poland 0: Ireland 0 (friendly in Poland)
Vs Italy we played in 2003, and vs Ireland in 2004. And all the results and line-ups from past few seasons of Polish NT can be found HERE .
Germany: France (FRA) 0:0 Germany (GER) Friendly 2005 SAINT-DENIS FRANCE - 12.11.2005 Did not really see I it - during the match I was in a Bar and concentrated more on chatting & drinking than on the game that was on so I only catched some highlights. But it was a very tactical game and it was the first time for a long time that Germany's defence looked solid. Klinsmann had changed tactics from a diamond formation to a straight 4 in the midfield with Ballack and Frings taking turns in going forward which worked really well for the defense but without Ballack as attacking midfielder the strikers looked a little lost. France was without Zidane and had played a match in Martinique a few days earlier, even though the French did not look tired from jetlag. Germany (GER) 1:0 (0:0) China PR (CHN) Friendly 2005 HAMBURG GERMANY - 12.10.2005 Poor game, Germany sneaked a win but China was close to scoring in the first half. The team got booed and whistled after the game even though they won!!! Personally I thought it was not THAT bad that the booing was deserved, at least you could see the players tried. Problem was the defense lacked self assurance so not conceding a goal was important here, but it was only thanks to luck. Turkey (TUR) 2:1 (1:0) Germany (GER) Friendly 2005 ISTANBUL TURKEY - 08.10.2005 Very poor game, most German players didn't even try, it was a disgrace! The late goal for Germany was undeserved, Turkey should have won higher! Germany (GER) 4:2 (1:1) South Africa (RSA) Friendly 2005 BREMEN GERMANY - 07.09.2005 Nice game with Podolski scoring a hattrick (and with some really nice shots!) Slovakia (SVK) 2:0 (2:0) Germany (GER) Friendly 2005 BRATISLAVA SLOVAKIA - 03.09.2005 Did not see it, from what I've heard it was really bad! But I think Ballack scored a goal that should have been allowed but was not accepted by the refs. Netherlands (NED) 2:2 (1:0) Germany (GER) Friendly 2005 ROTTERDAM NETHERLANDS - 17.08.2005 The Dutch owned us in the first half - it should have been 4:0 by then but they missed the best chances. Germany scored 2 late goals with 2 chances. Good old German efficiency! Germany (GER) 4:3 a.e.t. (3:3,2:1) Mexico (MEX) FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005 LEIPZIG GERMANY - 29.06.2005 A thrilling match, Germany was down to 10 men in the middle of the second half after Hanke got sent off - the red card was a very harsh decision. Ballack scored the winner with a nice free kick. BTW.: Borghetti scored twice with headers against our tall defenders! Germany (GER) 2:3 (2:2) Brazil (BRA) FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005 NUREMBERG GERMANY - 25.06.2005 Great match, Germany looked good in the attack but never close to winning because of a shaky defense. But one Brazil goal was from a penalty that not all Refs would have given (but the penalty for Germany was undeserved too) and one goal conceded was an unlucky deflection. Don't remember the other goal... Argentina (ARG) 2:2 (1:1) Germany (GER) FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005 NUREMBERG GERMANY - 21.06.2005 Both teams played with their B-Sides - both teams where qualified for the semi and the group winner had to play Brazil. Germany tried a little harder but Argentina didn't want to lose too and scored a late equaliser. Tunisia (TUN) 0:3 (0:0) Germany (GER) FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005 COLOGNE GERMANY - 18.06.2005 Very poor match for a long time then Germany scored three late goals. The win was deserved but not that high. Germany (GER) 4:3 (2:2) Australia (AUS) FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005 FRANKFURT/MAIN GERMANY - 15.06.2005 Germany had a lot of problems with Australia, who could deal quite well with Germany's physical game. But the main problem for Germany was the shaky defense. Germany (GER) 2:2 (1:1) Russia (RUS) Friendly 2005 MOENCHENGLADBACH GERMANY - 08.06.2005 The Germans played quite well but could not win because of their shaky defense. I think Mertesacker - who almost never even commits a foul - caused a penalty which made things rather difficult, but Germany had a nice comeback and took the lead. The Russians sneaked the draw with a late goal. Northern Ireland (NIR) 1:4 (1:1) Germany (GER) Friendly 2005 BELFAST NORTHERN IRELAND - 04.06.2005 Huth played a handball in the penalty box early in the game - red card and goal for NI! But the Germans showed they have morale. Slovenia (SVN) 0:1 (0:1) Germany (GER) Friendly 2005 CELJE SLOVENIA - 26.03.2005 I didn't see it but everybody said it was boring anyway. Germany (GER) 2:2 (2:1) Argentina (ARG) Friendly 2005 DUSSELDORF GERMANY - 09.02.2005 Nice match, Germany looked really good but Argentina was effective and deadly with their two attacks. The Argentinians looked a little annoyed that the Germans put so much effort in their game and they could not play their usual passing style... Thailand (THA) 1:5 (0:2) Germany (GER) Friendly 2004 BANGKOK THAILAND - 21.12.2004 Nothing special, Germany managed a high win with low effort. Korea Republic (KOR) 3:1 (1:1) Germany (GER) Friendly 2004 BUSAN KOREA REPUBLIC - 19.12.2004 The German players looked tired from travelling. In the first half Ballack was great (and scored the first I think) but in the second half he missed the penalty that would have been the 1:2 for Germany. Korea then scored two more goals with nice fast attacks. Korea really showed a great game really running all over the place, much like at the world cup! Japan (JPN) 0:3 (0:0) Germany (GER) Friendly 2004 YOKOHAMA JAPAN - 16.12.2004 Did not see it but the easy win is astonishing if you think the German players were influenced by Jetlag. Germany (GER) 3:0 (0:0) Cameroon (CMR) Friendly 2004 LEIPZIG GERMANY - 17.11.2004 Did only see the end of the game but Cameroon looked poor and Klose, who came in as a sub, had a great game and scored two nice goals. Iran (IRN) 0:2 (0:1) Germany (GER) Friendly 2004 TEHRAN IRAN - 09.10.2004 The Iranians showed a good game but the Germans where more effective. The game was closer than the result shows. Germany (GER) 1:1 (1:1) Brazil (BRA) Friendly 2004 BERLIN GERMANY - 08.09.2004 This game is the reason why Huth still gets a call from Klinsmann. Huth was a starter in this one and you did not really see much from Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Adriano in this game. Ronaldinho scored with a free kick and I don't remember any other chances for Brazil. Germany scored after a nice combination. The Brazilians didn't put too much effort in this game, but we all know these tricky dribblers don't always need to in order to win. Austria (AUT) 1:3 (1:1) Germany (GER) Friendly 2004 VIENNA AUSTRIA - 18.08.20 First game under Klinsmann and the beginning of a new era - the German team had changed their style to fast attacking football!