Poland-Croatia Preview. A One In A Million Chance.

Will this be our last match at Euro 2008? It seems so, as we have to defeat Croatia and at the same time count on Austria to defeat Germany. What’s also important, we must defeat Croatia by a bigger margin than Austria defeats Germany. Is this even possible?

There might be, however, one big chance for us. Croatia has already earned the number one spot in the group and Slaven Bilic will probably give some playing time to substitute players. I think we can be sure that Srna, Modric, Simunic and R.Kovac won’t play as they already have a yellow card next to their name and won’t risk receiving the second that would ban them from the quarterfinals game. Mario at Croatia Blog writes that as much as 8 new players will be inroduced by Bilic. Those include Simic (AC Milan), Vejic (Tom Tomsk), Knezevic (Livorno), J.Leko (AS Monaco), Vukojevic (Dinamo Zagreb) , Pokrivac (AS Monaco), Petric (Dortmund) and Klasnic (Werder Bremen). Did you have a look at the clubs in which they play? Shit, I’d give a lot for our team to have such players in the starting eleven even. As much as they are substitutes, they’re still quality lads. As a result, I wouldn’t necessarely count on the fact that we’ll see a worse side of Croatian team tomorrow. At the same time, there’s much talk of a relaxed and laid back atmosphere in the Croatian camp. I wouldn’t expect them to attack from the first minute as was the case with Germans and Austrians because they simply don’t need to. We should have more time to organize our game this time around.

I don’t think there will be any major changes in our team. Artur Boruc is a national hero now and there is no possibility he won’t start against Croatia. Mariusz Jop proved in the last game that Euro Champs level is too high for him so I wouldn’t expect him to start this time. As we have seen, Leo has absolutely no trust in Jakub Wawrzyniak on the left back position so it’ll be another occasion for Pawel Golanski to shine. Marcin Wasilewski was also far from confident against Austria, but there’s no player to substitute him, provided Golanski starts on the left side. No changes as far as defensive midfielders are concerned; both Mariusz Lewandowski and Dariusz Dudka play within their potential so I don’t expect Rafal Murawski being given a chance from the first minute. Jacek Krzynowek is a player from whom we expected a lot more. Will Leo replace him with Gargula or Zahorski? I don’t think so; one of those powerful Krzynek’s shots have to come in sometime. Roger is a dead cert to start in the offensive midfielder slot. Right wing, on the other hand, is very interesting. Marek Saganowski was our secret weapon for the Austria game and put in a moderate performance. However, I think that Wojciech Lobodzinski should start against Croatia. Their left back, Pranjic, is a very offensive player; I think he even plays in the midfield for his club. Hence, Lobo, being a better dribbler than Sagan, should be given a chance to run at him. I think Germans didn’t use this chance as they played Fritz, who is a defender, against Pranjic. Lastly, Ebi Smolarek. Should Leo give a chance to a player that disappointed in both games? For lack of better options, yes he should. Again, I’d like to see Ebi more involved in the midfield. Leo doesn’t consider him a right winger, but he should play some minutes on the left side in my opinion. As for substitutes, I’d like to see Gargula and Zahorski finally being given a chance. Oh, and Lukasz Piszczek recovered from injury and is ready to perform.

Will this be our last game? In all probability, yes it will. At the same time, this shouldn’t stop our players from putting in a good performance. There must be faith as long as there is even a slightest chance. The lads have to convince us that they didn’t qualify by pure luck. They qualified because thay played better than anyone expected. Now it’s time to show it on a big stage. They should also play for Leo, if they want his work to continue. Leo will almost certainly stay with us after Euros and a good result against Croatia can be something to build on in terms of future qualifiers.

PS: For all you speaking Polish read this interesting interview with Leo. He explains some of his decisions, expresses a will to work with us after Euros and a will to test some young players in the national team.