Call Ups For The Ireland Friendly. No Boruc, No Shock.

Usually, this would be a sensational news; Artur Boruc is left out of the Polish squad for the friendly against Ireland. It would also sound probable since Boruc was to blame for our World Cup qualifying defeat against Slovakia. However, this time around the decision is based purely on Artie’s health problems; he’s going to undergo a minor surgery in two weeks’ time. Other than that, there were no surprises in the squad.

Bialo Czerwoni called up for the Ireland friendly (November 19th):

Goalkeepers: Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal), Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)

Defenders: Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht), Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan), Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos), Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre), Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)

Midfielders: Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan), Lukasz Gargula (GKS Bełchatow), Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow), Euzebiusz Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers), Jacek Krzynowek (VfL Wolfsburg), Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw), Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)

Attackers: Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan), Paweł Brożek (Wisla Krakow)

Backups: Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis), Marcin Kowalczyk (Dynamo Moscow), Bartosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan), Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan), Slawomir Peszko (Lech Poznan), Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)

As you can see, Leo didn’t make the headlines this time and refrained from any shocking call ups. The game against Ireland is to prepare us for the qualifier against Northern Ireland and Leo wants to test the players that he’ll most surely call up in March. There are no new faces in the team, anyone counting to see Piotr Brozek, Arkadiusz Radomski or Artur Wichniarek among the chosen must feel disappointed (no fresh meat for the journalists). Some players lost their place in the squad in the last couple of months: Pawel Golanski hasn’t been picked since he recovered from injury, Marek Saganowski’s last game was against San Marino, Wojciech Lobodzinski turned into an average league player and Lukasz Sosin failed to make any sort of impression on Leo last time he was nominated. It’s especially surprising with regards to the last name, I’d expect Sosin to be given at least one friendly half before being written off. His situation reminds of the one with Seweryn Gancarczyk, who was called up for the games against Slovenia and San Marino but we weren’t given the possibility to check if he can add any extra dimension to the team. The question of Sosin’s usefulness will also remain unanswered, at least for the time being. Jacek Krzynowek and Ebi Smolarek are still considered important team members, even though they watch league games from the stands and bench perspective respectively.

Personally, my expectation regarding this game is to finally learn if players like Jodlowiec, Boguski or Majewski have what it takes to succeed on the international level. I’d like to see each one of them for at least 45 minutes. They were all called up last time, but weren’t given a chance to prove themselves. Now it’s a perfect occassion to see if Jodlowiec is not too slow, Boguski fast and creative enough and if Majewski has the physical strength to play in Europe. Hopefully, this won’t be another free and meaningless trip for these lads. Other than that, I wonder if Polish fans living in Ireland will be able to outshout the locals. This may prove a tough task, but nothing is impossible for the Bialo Czerwoni faithfuls (I remember our fans outdoing the English during the youth teams matchup this year).

Other news: Both Maciej Zurawski and Jacek Krzynowek are thinking about coming back to the Polish league, to Wisla Krakow and Gornik Zabrze respectively. Time to say goodbye.

Artur Boruc’s intervention against ManUtd, a mistake or not, what do you think? I think he could’ve reacted better.

In reference to ignoring Pawel Brozek last time he substituted him, Leo Beenhakker promised to kiss and hug the Wisla player next time he decides to take him off the field. Brozek needs some fondling.