Poland Snowed Over by Team USA, 1-0

The near-home field advantage was imagined to stop them. The weather conditions might have stopped them. Most of all, goalkeeper Artur Boruc (Celtic) was supposed to stop them. And in the end, nothing stopped Team USA from scoring a 1-0 victory over Poland in a game that featured few highlights and lots of snow.

Midfielder Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution) marked the game’s only tally in the 48th minute with a crafty header. From the left flank, Eddie Lewis (Leeds) crossed the ball in to Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution). Boruc came out for an attempt at clearing the ball, but his punch deflected off Twellman’s head (!) to Dempsey, who headed the ball inside the right post.

Hopes of any advantage to Poland envisioned prior to game were soon cast aside. Though Kaiserslautern is fairly close to their homeland, Polish fans among the 13,395 huddled at Fritz Walter Stadion were outnumbered by their American counterparts, thanks to a large turnout from the Americans’ nearby Ramstein Air Base. At the press conference following the game, Team USA coach Bruce Arena commented, “we don’t get this kind of support at some of our games in the United States.”

Then there was the weather. Landon Donovan (Bayern Leverkusen) put it succinctly: “The hard thing was seeing.” After a few pre-game flurries, the temperature set in below freezing. Conditions worsened throughout the first half, and by the time the teams left the locker room at half, a full-on snowstorm was going on. When reporting the story, media sources typically update their commentary vocabulary to include “blizzard.” The period Donovan described as “fifteen to twenty minutes where you couldn’t see more than ten yards” probably began in about the 70th minute. By the 80th, the referees introduced a bright yellow ball – one internet story called it “high resolution” – into play.

American media has made much of some feeble remarks made by coach Pawel Janas to the effect that “the snow was in our face…so maybe [the snow] helped them more.” This reportage does reek of American sportswriter pot-stirring, however, and it seems Janas forgot that the U.S. team trains in California. On the other hand, maybe Janas was on to something: The American team was decked out in all white, ideal camouflage under the circumstances.

The Polish media spin on the story, however, centers on Boruc. In the lead article “Boruc coś narobił?” (roughly “Did Boruc Do It?”), the newspaper Przeglad Sportowy implies just that. Dempsey’s goal is referred to as “Boruc’ error.” The start of Jerzy Dudek (Liverpool) in goal was called a “surprise,” and the piece goes on to lament the goalkeeper who should have been “hardened” by recent experience in international competition.

Both Dudek and American goalkeeper Kasey Keller (M’gladbach) were hardly tested in the first half, forty-five minutes of play popularly described as “sluggish.” Poland threatened twice in the 27th minute. Jacek Krzynowek (Bayern Leverkusen) attempted to feed midfielder Euzebiuz Smolarek a pass at the top of the penalty area, but Keller cleared it in time. Keller saved a shot soon thereafter when Michael Zewlakow bulleted a drive toward the lower left corner.

With time almost out in the first half, Steve Cherundolo (Hannover) got a free kick, but the shot went wide to the left.

The second half saw both goalies replaced, with Boruc and Tim Howard (Manchester United) coming onto the pitch, and Dempsey soon surprised the former.

Dead play essentially returned after the lightning goal. The last Polish threat came in the 66th minute. Jacek Kryzynowek bent the shot around the wall, but Howard read it correctly and easily made the save.

America is now 4-0-1 in per-Cup international play; Poland is 2-1-0.

USA – Polska 1:0 (0:0):
________________________________________
Bramka: Clint Dempsey (48-głową).
Żółte kartki: Carlos Bocanegra (USA); Mariusz Jop (Polska).
Sędzia: Thorsten Kinhofer (Niemcy)
Widzów: 13 395.

Polska: Jerzy Dudek (46-Artur Boruc) – Marcin Baszczyński, Jacek Bąk, Mariusz Jop (83-Tomasz Kłos), Michał Żewłakow (74-Tomasz Rząsa) – Euzebiusz Smolarek, Arkadiusz Radomski (80-Radosław Sobolewski), Mirosław Szymkowiak, Jacek Krzynówek – Tomasz Frankowski (62-Andrzej Niedzielan), Grzegorz Rasiak (62-Kamil Kosowski)