Assorted Bits ‘n’ Pieces

After the Saudi Arabia-Poland match on 29 March Coach Janas, optimistic as ever about Team Poland’s chances, stated to Polish and international media that he was pleased as punch with Polish patience in what psychologically had to be considered a must-win game after the disappointing 1-0 loss to the USA.

The big story in the 2-1 Riyadh match was, of course, Lukasz Sosin. Once considered a bit of a surprise for national-team consideration at all, Sosin was named to Janas’ experimental team designed to test the mettle of Sosin and five others vying for their first caps in the friendlies against Team USA and Saudi Arabia. After warming the bench in the USA blizzard match, Sosin left no doubt that he’d be named to the squad for the first time after continuously finding ways to get open, to create opportunities and to score two goals.

Sosin plays with Apollon Limassol FC of Cyprus, where he has been the league’s top scorer for two years running. Ironic that a little nice play by a Pole might grab some attention for football in Cyprus…

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Columnist Ronnie Cully displayed his man-crush for Maciej Zurawski in the online Evening Times this week, headline declaring Zurawski’s “polished act” (Is that a pun?) “worth waiting for.” With his key assist in the game against Hearts, Zurawski sealed the league title for Celtic, and thus the platitudes from Cully. Cully maintains that the “hitman from Poznan” is clearly itching to play on the international stage; the World Cup will “whet [his] appetite to get his teeth into football at this level,” writes Cully, who goes on to gush that “the Champions League will be Zurawski’s bread and butter.”

And now Poland leaves its mark on Scotland…

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Meanwhile, Team Poland’s Nigerian connection Emmanuel Olisadebe made a non-announcement regarding his chances of getting a spot on the squad, “I’ve stopped dreaming about the finals,” said Olisadebe. The striker was the toast of the town in 2002 when he netted eight goals in World Cup qualifiers and added another against Team USA in group play. Olisadebe has been hampered by injuries for a majority of the intervening period, though, and rarely appears for Portsmouth.

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A pair of friendlies have been announced as additions to Team Poland’s World Cup tune up. Lithuania is already on the Polish slate for 2 May and the mighty Faroe Islands squad comes to Wronki on 14 May; this match is scheduled to conclude within two hours of the coaches’ deadline to finalize their World Cup roster list. On 30 May, Colombia visits Chorzow to take on the solidified squad. In place is the 2 June match against Croatia, and Team Poland’s first Cup match is on the 9th against Ecuador.