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Poland-Germany 0:2. No Miracle.

June 9th, 2008 | By: tomasz | 26 Comments »

After I slept (and beforehand drank) with the result I can write a more objective and swearing-free review of the game. Forgive me if it isn’t very detailed but I was in a supporting trance throughout the game. The fact is, we didn’t play that bad. The other fact is, “not that bad” play is not enough to even draw against the Germans.

Poland-Germany 0:2 (Podolski 20′, 72′)
Poland: Artur Boruc - Marcin Wasilewski, Michal Zewlakow, Jacek Bak, Pawel Golanski (75. Marek Saganowski) - Wojciech Lobodzinski (65. Lukasz Piszczek), Dariusz Dudka, Mariusz Lewandowski, Maciej Zurawski (46. Roger Guerreiro), Jacek Krzynowek - Euzebiusz Smolarek

Our first fatal mistake was that we didn’t score on our first chance. Krzynowek should have scored after Lehmann’s weak punch. The next 20 minutes were our worst in the whole game. It still remains inexplicable how could Gomez not score when he had empty net in front of him. It was also a sign of what’s to come. Our defence looked really vulnerable, they didn’t play as a solid line in the back. Full backs allowed to many crosses and runs. Offside traps didn’t work, especially as we faced a player of Ballack’s calibre. It was his great pass to Klose that was decisive for Germany’s goal. Mind you, Klose looked to me on a tiny offside. At this moment I feared we’d get absolutely smashed. But we started to play better. Dudka ,and especially Lewandowski, started to distribute the ball well. As much as Krzyniu couldn’t win a single duel with Lahm, Lobo produced what was our best chance in the half. It was a perfect ball for Zuraw, perfect for his right foot, just waiting to be put in the net. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Magic’s day. We tried a horrendous number of long shots, players did their “Lehmann” homework. Suprisingly, Mad Jens was better than anyone expected as he didn’t allow any rebound shots.

Second half, and the first substitute, a good move by Leo. Roger is greeted with an applause by all the fans (I was watching the game on a telebim in the centre of Poznan, Poland); it’s a proof that he’s accepted by people. And we instantly get to know why. He speeds up our game, chooses unconventional passes and is not afraid to dribble. Germans don’t know how to cope with him. The first 20-25 minutes of the second half were ours. I could sense a goal in the air. No clear chances, but a lot of good offensive plays from our team. Finally, Smolarek’s offside goal. Just as tiny an offside as in Germany’s first goal. Where is justice? Everything was on a good track until Golanski’s mistake. A mistake that was to be foreseen in my opinion. A right footed player on a left side tries to kick away the ball with his left foot. I sensed that this might happen, that’s why I always prefer left footed players on a left side. Golo said afterwards that he didn’t want to give away a corner. He gave away a goal; this is football. Podolski’s second goal marked the end of the game for us. There was Saganowski’s header in the dying minutes, but we all sensed that it’s over. Germany runs out deserved winners. We played a lot better than 2 years ago, but we didn’t play above our potential. We must perform better than we can if we want to achieve anything here. After watching Austria-Croatia game I say that everything is still possible. The game against the Austrians will be closely fought, every result possible. Croats have better players, but still they were outplayed by Austria in the second half. I think they may have stamina and fitness problems; great tempo in the first half, but they were dying in the second.

This is how I rate the players (1-10):

Artur Boruc 6: didn’t stand a chance to prevent the goals. Other than that, very confident. One great save from Ballack’s shot.
Marcin Wasilewski 4,5: too much space for Podolski, didn’t run forward as often as he should. I thought he’d pose more threat during corners.
Jacek Bak 5: should organize the defence better, especially offside traps. Other than that, no huge mistakes.
Michal Zewlakow 5: similarly as Bak, responsible for the first goal, just as every other defender
Pawel Golanski 4: played better than expected until the fatal mistake. Couldn’t play down the line so he crossed the ball to Wasyl very often.
Dariusz Dudka 5,5: a quiet performance, which is positive if we take his last game against Germans into consideration. Apart from the first 20 minutes, he was a good aid to Lewy.
Mariusz Lewandowski 6,5: our best player. At first, he gave away the ball far too cheaply. Later he distributed it very well, a lot of great passes to Krzyniu and Lobo. Tried long range shots, will score next time.
Wojciech Lobodzinski 5: it wasn’t a great game from Lobo, but he wasn’t scared of getting the ball and dribbling. Great pass for Zuraw in the first half.
Jacek Krzynowek 4,5: should be a difference maker, but Lahm covered him really great. Worked very hard.
Maciej Zurawski 3: once again disappointed in a major tournament. Lack of movement was his main flaw. Didn’t score on a perfect occasion.
Ebi Smolarek 3: a disappointing performance. Wasn’t threatening at all. Should play on the wing more in order to be more involved in the game.
Roger Guerreiro 6: a lot of movement and a lot of nice passes and dribbles. Made our game more flowing.
Lukasz Piszczek 4,5: some good runs down the line, but he’s not a real dribbler. Crossing also failed him.
Marek Saganowski: not long enough on the field to be rated. Could score with a header.

Conclusions:
- we can still make it; as I wrote above, every result against Austria is possible
- I feel better than after losses against Korea or Ecuador. It’s because we’ve shown at least some signs that this team can perform.
- we must play better than we’re capable of if we want to compete with the best teams in Europe.
- Roger starts ahead of Zuraw in the next game.
- more movement from Ebi is required. He must be more involved.
- Wawrzyniak should enter the field in case Golanski is depressed.
- offside traps should be better organised
- we need more from Krzynowek, not only long range shots.

And one more thing. It’s nice that Podolski didn’t cheer after the goals, but don’t tell me his heart is broken. You chose Germany Poldi, live with it.

How do you feel after the loss? What do you think should be changed?

Tags: Bak, Ballack, Beenhakker, boruc, Dudka, Germany, Golanski, Group A, Krzynowek, Lehmann, Lewandowski, Lobodzinski, Piszczek, Podolski, Poland, Roger, Saganowski, Smolarek, Wasilewski, Zewlakow, zurawski

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 26 comments.

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By Rysio | June 9th, 2008 at 6:15 am

I feel a bit down after the loss as the team worked so hard in parts but still hopefull as we still have a chance of getting through to the quarter finals. I felt when Roger came on our game definately improved, our possession and movement was a lot better. I’m quite worried about the next match aswell, I mean Austria have a home advantage and were really dominating at the end of their match against Croatia, mind you we had spells like that yesterday too, so who knows? Plus Austria have the home advantage and after their first loss, they will be really pushing for a victory against us. If we manage to do well in that game, we still have Croatia to play and that will be extremely tough aswell. Maybe, just maybe, we can do it… Who knows? Maybe we will meet Germany again in the Semis? How optimistic are the rest of you for our next two group games?

Posted from United Kingdom

By aalms | June 9th, 2008 at 6:52 am

so lewandowski was better than roger in this game? i think we saw to different matches. as for ebi - fair play for ya - we need to see more movement from the lad. as for podolski - thats a lot of bollocks - yeah! we won just because he didnt cheer! bollocks!

Posted from Poland

By aalms | June 9th, 2008 at 6:54 am

drinking-sleeping-and drinking agian cant help me with accepting this score

Posted from Poland

By bronx | June 9th, 2008 at 6:56 am

Our problem is simple we do not put enough trust in our younger players. Wasileweski is the worst player in the whole tournament and possibly on the international stage. he is too slow to be a wing back and should stay strictly in defence because he cant get back quick enough, his passes dont find feet and his reading of the game is crap, Bak is about 10 years past his best, and our only defender who is any good is zewlakow.
Zurawski is a has been so to is krzynowek, why dont we bring young players to tournaments with us? look at Janczyk he is in his early 20s and only has about 3 caps or Brozek, look at swiensteiger from Germany 23 years old and 50caps, Podolski 23 years old and tonnes of games under his belt. if we gave him a chance when he was young then he would be putting the ball in the back of the german net for us instead the gremans got in first put their trust in him and no look he’s an international star. And he’s POLISH !!!

Posted from Poland

By Matk | June 9th, 2008 at 7:22 am

More bad news for our team. At the press conference dr Grzywocz said that Żuraw and Lewandowski are both injured. Lewandowski (bruised knuckle) is likely to recover for the Austria game while Żuraw (torn muscle)is out for the group phase (I still have faith that we will qualify to the quarterfinal), so it is likely that we will start with Roger behind Smolarek, though Leo said that he doesn’t have starting eleven against Austria at this moment.

Posted from Poland

By tomasz | June 9th, 2008 at 7:47 am

@jasperaldo
He could’ve been on, it’s just miliseconds. On a good day we’d be allowed this goal.
@Rysio
I think that the motivation factor will now be crucial. It’s important that the players don’t lose much sleep over the Germany game now and concentrate purely on the Austrians. I don’t know what the situation is in the Austrian camp but I hope they’re slightly devastated. I’m prepared for any kind of result in this game.
@aalms
I would’ve given a higher note to Roger if he played more than 45 minutes. I really liked the way Lewy improved his game after first 20 minutes. Podolski: it’s a case of a parent hitting a child and saying “it hurts me more than you”
@bronx
We don’t have enough talented young players to base a national team on them. I don’t think there’s any player outside Leo’s squad that would enhance our pefrormance a lot. We can talk about Janczyk, Brozek, Majewski or Wichniarek, but I don’t think any of them would perform better than the guys that played yesterday. Other thing is, young players in other countries are exposed to high-level football a lot earlier, that’s why they progress faster. It’s not Brozek’s fault that he was born in Poland and had to ‘learn’ football in games against Radzionkow or Polonia Bytom.
@Matk
That’s very bad news in case Zuraw. He didn’t play well yesterday, but I’d still see him as a player coming for the last 20-30 minutes. Roger will now certainly play from the first minute and let’s hope Gargula and Saganowski/Zahorski are in good shape. I hope it’s nothing serious with Lewy.

Posted from Poland

By CROATIA | June 9th, 2008 at 8:29 am

LOOKS EASY FOR CROATIA NOW JUST 1 WIN MORE

VS GERMANY OR POLES

POLAND Muahhahahhahaa

By tito | June 9th, 2008 at 8:41 am

I’m very sorry for you guys. That officiating crew should be beaten with sticks.

That said, Poland again showed themselves to be a team with skills and heart - one of these days you’ll get a fair shot and on that day you will beat Germany.

By Frank | June 9th, 2008 at 8:58 am

the polish team was motivated and willing to do their best but the defence was really a problem and the offence created no or to be freindly nearly no real chances.

I never had the feeling even after the break when the german team played calm and not so powerfull anymor ethat the polish team can score or we can lose or draw this game.

With this team and this offence it´s very hard for poland especially against Croatia and their style of football. Where should the goals come from beside the problems in the defence.

it is not the first tournament where i thought that the polish team is better after the qualification round but wihtin the tournament poland is always a disapointment.

Two chances left to become better

By pees08 | June 9th, 2008 at 8:58 am

Players for match with Austria:
Boruc
Bąk Jop
Żewłakow Wasilewski
Lewandowski
Krzynówek
Guerreiro Piszczek
Smolarek Saganowski
Of course the referees will be “helping” Austria a bit…

By alessio | June 9th, 2008 at 9:09 am

You guys were hard done by the game. Do referees naturally favor the bigger teams? I think so, and that’s why one offside decision went their way and the other went against you. We could have been talking about a 1-1 draw or even a 1-0 win here.

Posted from United States

By Radek | June 9th, 2008 at 9:22 am

Regarding that Janczyk comment earlier on in here, he was supposed to be in Leo’s camp back in May, but was cut very early due to injury. I really think he would have made the team had he not been injured. I got to see him play in person last summer in Canada at the FIFA U-20 and he is totally our future star, he will be on the team come the world cup in 2010.

Posted from Canada

By gregorio | June 9th, 2008 at 9:28 am

to me the most depressing thing is, the result was uncertain just for the first few minutes. it’s already a classic situation, that we have a great chance in the beginning. but later on, the germans took control completely and it was just a matter of time when they score. afterwards they could give us some space, still not being threatened by our play. i guess with janas they had much tougher game (though we defended a draw which would gave us nothign).
we had 2 opportunities, not 100% though, and if smolarek’s goal (rightly said, the offside was the same as the klose’s) were allowed, we’d still be far from drawng the game, as we’d have to keep the result (which wouldn’t be easy).
the 2nd half was better, but - again - germany didn’t have to do much. you know what i’d appreciate, if we could play the 2nd half play, but before losing a goal. now saying that the distribution of the ball was ok is just unconvincing.
ehh…maybe i excpected too much yesterday, but now i’m not sure we’re not into another fucked up tournament, and i used to be sure. we still can get the promotion from the group. but i realise, to me, yesterday’s game itself
was just as important.

Posted from Poland

By Tomek | June 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am

No need to panic just yet. We still have two games left, and after watching Austria and Croatia I strongly believe both teams are in our range. I know yesterday was dissapointing and like you Tomek, I had to drink myself to sleep. However today I woke up and felt better than I have after Korea and Ecuador. Let’s not loose sight of the fact we played the absolute favorites of the tournament and played them well. If Been can pick up the pieces after this loss we are still in good shape. Couple changes I would make is Roger in for Zurawski (who is injuired anyways), and maybe Wawrzyniak for Golanski. I still believe.

Posted from United States

By tomasz | June 9th, 2008 at 10:02 am

@Frank
I understand that you didn’t feel threatened. I wrote that Germany was a better team and a deserved winner. At the same time, apart from Gomez situation, Germany didn’t have much better chances than Poland. Boruc had to make only one crucial safe when he tipped wide Ballack’s shot. I’m normally against Germany, but now I hope you defeat the Croats.
@pees08
I don’t think Leo will go with a gung ho attack from the first whistle.
@alessio
I really hope that it’s just a human-like mistake and not a deliberate one. I don’t want to believe in conspiracy theories.
@Radek
Remember that the tournament in Canada was a youth one. Senior football is much different, and here Janczyk doesn’t have much to show off as he is a backup player at CSKA. That said, I think he surely is a future national team player. If he’s a future star I don’t know.
@Gregorio
Do you remember any sort of chances for us in the Janas game? I very much prefer to lose 0-2 after at least some spells of organized play than 0-1 after 90 minutes of defending. Yesterday we had moments when I could see a team, 2 years ago it was only Boruc. I agree that when Germans played their 100% we where non existent. I just hope that the lads had to come to terms with the pace of the game and it won’t happen against Austrians. At the same time, I never expected we’d control the game troughout 90 minutes. It’s hard for me to critisize the players for the fact that they didn’t play a game of their lives. At the same time, I’m also very disappointed, mainly because it was a perfect occasion for a legendary game. We still have to wait for our Wembley (or wasn’t the Portugal game our Wembley?)
As for the remaining two games, I feel the same. The worst part is that even if we play well this won’t mean a win against Austria. The level is so high that we’ll have to play extraordinary well.

Posted from Poland

By tomasz | June 9th, 2008 at 10:10 am

@Tomek
I agree, let’s wait until the second game of the tournament before making any final assumptions.

Posted from Poland

By kizak | June 9th, 2008 at 11:47 am

Way too aggressive on the offsides trap. If you don’t know how to run it then don’t because you will always be burned. In my opinion Leo’s genius took a slight step backwards for me. You can’t play 4-5-1 and try to run a dutch offsides trap at the same time. The 5 players in the middle were useless.
Where was Ebi the entire game? Zurawski did nothing, he got hurt, but that will allow us to put Roger up top. If you are playing with one striker he better be fast. The should play 4-4-2 with Ebi and Roger up front receiving the counterattack, non of our midfielders are creative enough to dribble and pass through the midfield, play the long balls to some fast strikers instead.
Jacek Krzynowek I thing has been reading too much of his press thinking he has a much better shot than he did, absolutely right, that first chance (even though it was very early) was the chance and he blew it, that was a huge mistake, just strike it hard to the low corner with the side of the foot, horrible shot. I was reading some press and it said that our team didn’t seem fit, I actually thought they were pretty fit (except for Golanski, who should never be put on the field again, he was way overmatched) and I believe that will really help us against Croatia who were walking in their second half. If everything hold according to the script then if we beat Croatia we are through, Jeszcze Nic Sie Nie Stalo.

Posted from United States

By Raz | June 9th, 2008 at 11:54 am

watched the game again today and definitely feel like Poland got the rough end of the offsides calls. both the first german goal and the smolarek non goal were pretty much the same situations. i’d say they were both offsides but you gotta call it consistently if you’re gonna call one onsides. officiating was shit in the croatia game too. that said, Poland blew it in the opening minutes by not capitalizing on that chance. that would have completely changes the game. but, Poland looks pretty strong, should be an interesting group with Croatia looking like they’re playing below their form and Austria playing above theirs.

and one more thought, i really wish podolski stopped acting like he’s so respectful. if you can’t celebrate your goals you’re not playing on the right side if you ask me. i’m an immigrant too and your heart never really leaves your homeland. it’s your roots, your family name, especially when your family still lives there. if you made the decision based on money then live with it and stick to it. and who let him put on a polish jersey after that game. he does not deserve that honor.

Posted from United States

By polishprincess | June 9th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Have faith, everyone. WE CAN DO IT. We will beat Austria and beat Croatia into the ground. Don’t worry about Zurawski. He didn’t do much yesterday, we don’t need him, hope he gets well soon though. Roger will come out of the gate strong during our next game and hopefully Leo will have more faith in our young players. WE CAN DO IT!!!

By bronx | June 9th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

@ Tomasz your Comment about young players in other countries being exposed to high level football a lot earlier is exactly the reason we should be putting our young players on the international stage. This will generate interest from big clubs which will then help their developement even more once signed by these clubs as they will then be training with better coaches and better players. Could you honestly say that if Podolski chose to play for Poland that he would be our first choice striker? The answer - no, he would still be behind Zurawski.

Posted from Poland

By tomasz | June 9th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

@kizak
Leo said today that they didn’t plan on playing the offside traps so high so I don’t know what the players were thinking. I said it before the tournament that we don’t have a lot of creative players, we never had in the last years. That’s why Kuba was so important to the team. Krzynowek may have taken one shot too many, but remember about the Portugal away game, he has to take those chances. I also think that it was Leo’s decision to shoot as much as possible as they were counting on Lehmann’s poor form.
@Raz
Those offsides were so minimal that they were really hard to call. I hope that the players are not concentrating on those calls but on how to improve their performance and beat Austria. I totally agree with regard to Podolski. I respect his decision to play for Germany, he had the right to do this, but this doesn’t mean that I have to symphatize with him.
@bronx
I mean that they are exposed to a high level football in the league. Remember that the national team doesn’t play a lot of matches and it’s hard for a coach to risk playing an unproven player in the qualifiers. It’s different with friendlies, but those matches are usually played not on 100%. That’s why I want Polish players to go abroad at a young age.

Posted from Poland

By gregorio | June 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

@tomasz

with janas the situation was a bit surreal, we fought tooth and nails for the draw, when we needed a win. but still, it was a close shave and we would have mess the situation to the germans, who were the hosts, so really were fired up for the game. now, it wasn’t a close shave, the germans were unthreatened except for 10 mins. so emotionally, the previous game was much much more exciting. i’m about what wołowski also wrote today about the game.
despite all this, i appreciate the change of philosophy introduced by leo, if we are to count in europe, we can’t just clear the ball from the box. but…so what? the effect is the same.

ok, enough of this whinning. we’ve got something to prove, so let’s do it!

@raz, @tomasz

i agree about podolski. he’s pissing me off. much more respect to klose’s clear statement, though him i don’t like either.

Posted from Poland

By Mark | June 9th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

I must say Poland’s defense looked quite weak in the first half, I was not surprised at all by the outcome. I was pleased to see Roger play well, and am almost glad that Zurawski got injured. I think he is too slow and lumbering these days, similar to Australia’s striker Mark Viduka, both of them hardly ever score for their national sides. Krzynowek didn’t play that badly in the first half, but was shutdown by Lahm in the second. Germany was also too quick for the Poles, and their pace was too quick for the defense to get back in time. Smolarek didn’t have much to do really as there were not many opportunities for him. He did score when he had the chance though…. if only. There is still a good chance of qualifying, we have to beat Austria if there is any hope. And hopefully Leo starts with Roger. Good luck to the Biało Czerwoni!

Posted from Poland

By dmac | June 9th, 2008 at 6:51 pm

Roger was by far the best player on the Polish team. He was creative, his passes were crisp, and he was able to beat the Germans with his moves. It is sad that we do not have any player on this team of his caliber that was born in Poland. Do they discourage creativeness and fancy play when you are a child in Poland? We lack that skill to drive forward with a combination of speed and ball control. Roger was much more noticeable than Zurawski and Smolarek combined.

Krzynowek is an example of the lack of creative skill. I mean, I felt that overall we had some creative passes here and there, but individually many of these players are lacking any sort of creativity in their footing. For Krzynowek, it is fine that he has a booming shot. But he lacks that dynamism that would actually put some fear into the opponents. Taking long range low percentage shots will not do much, although you may get lucky every so often.

I have to agree with “bronx,” I think it would be beneficial for our future to put some of the young hopefuls into our lineup instead of these old, uncreative lugs, and expose them to some National football at an early age like with the case of other talented players that play for other teams.

Posted from United States

By Pawel | June 9th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

Too much hype that came into this game. Germany is an excellent team in the tournament to see your weaknesses. So we have ours still. Thats it. Take it as it is. But lets fix what we can and keep doing wat we doing right, then BEAT Austria and Croatia. Because we can! Polska Do Boju!

Posted from Canada

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