Nobody wants to go to Euro. Poland-Foreign Stars 2-3.

So, here’s the deal. You’re a player from the Polish league fighting for the ticket for the Euro Champs. It’s virtually your last chance to impress the coach.Your opponent is a team of foreign stars for whom it’s only a meaningless exhibition game.You ought to do your best and win convincingly, right? Well, not this time.

You can as well blow it big time. At least that’s how some of the Polish players should feel after this game. None of them showed enough passion or skills to grant themselves the place in the Euro squad. The Foreign Stars team looked superior and better organised throughout the whole game, even though they met for the first time in their lives. We were playing too slow and too predictibly; a lot of players looked scared of the opportunity that they were given. It is hardly surprising in the case of the unexperienced youth and very alarming in the case of players on whom we count on very much in June. Here is how our squad looked like:

Wojciech Kowalewski (66. Sebastian Przyrowski) – Grzegorz Bartczak (66. Adam Danch), Marcin Kus, Jakub Wawrzyniak, Mariusz Magiera (46. Piotr Kuklis) – Robert Kolendowicz (46. Grzegorz Baran), Michal Pazdan (46. Michal Golinski), Rafal Murawski (40. Lukasz Gargula), Jacek Krzynowek, Tomasz Zahorski (46. Grzegorz Bonin) – Lukasz Piszczek (66. Radoslaw Majewski)
Goals: Gargula, after Krzynowek’s shot (74), Wawrzyniak, after Majewski’s pass (89)

Unfortunately, as much as I would like to, I can’t praise any of the players. Kowalewski is not to blame for the goals, but he didn’t have any chance to impress as well. The back four looked shaky and uncertain. Bartczak and Magiera are just not good enough, whereas Kus and Wawrzyniak looked better in the last friendlies. The latter, especially, caused much chaos in front of our goal. Two holding midfielders, Pazdan and Murawski, couldn’t hold the ball. Pazdan is a big talent, but he’s not yet ready to play on the international level. I was surprised by Murawski, he had serious problems with his first touch. He lost the ball far too often for a player who is widely considered to be a future Euro participant. Kolendowicz and Zahorski didn’t pose any threat on the wings. Kolendowicz is very fast and…….well, that’s it, he’s just fast. Zahorski, whose natural position is a striker, has already proved that he can play on the wing. Unfortunately, not this time; I’m not sure whether Leo considers him as a player for the present or one for the future. He certainly has lots of potential. Jacek Krzynowek was a last minute call up, he needed this game because of his situation at Wolfsburg (bench). He looked very passive in the first half when he played as an attacking midfielder. When he switched to a winger position in the second he looked much better. What he needs to get his fitness and confidence back is a regular play, not sure he’ll get it at Wolfsburg. Piszczek was absent throughout the match, no wonder he can’t get a game for Hertha. Gargula came on as a substitute and tried to organize the game together with Krzynowek, with some success. He also grabbed a goal after a great solo run and a shot by Krzyniu. I would also like to single out Majewski for a great pass for the second goal. The rest of the players didn’t leave their mark on the game; some where just average (Golinski, Kuklis, Danch, Przyrowski, Baran) and some were horrible (Bonin). Not one player proved for 100% to be worthy of representing Poland in the Euro.

In an interview after the game Leo said that he had found his answers. Now he knows which players can help him in his trip to Austria and which are the ones for the future World Cup campaign. The Euro squad is finally taking shape. We’ll learn Leo’s answers once he calls up players for the friendly against the USA.

Roger played in the second half for the team of Foreign Stars. He had a quiet game in the centre midfield. Leo refused to comment on his situation after the game.

Here are the goals by Gargula and Wawrzyniak