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Poland - Team Profile
30/03/2006
Third in 1974 and again in 1982 Poland have an excellent World Cup pedigree and qualified for this year's tournament by finishing second behind England in their qualifying group. Those two third place finishes were helped by star players. Grzegorz Lato scored seven goals in 1974 while Zbigniew Boniek was the driving force behind success in 1982. This time round Poland lack a star.
They are blessed with three fantastic keepers. First choice is likely to be Artur Boruc who is a regular for Celtic in the Scottish league. His consistency should keep out Liverpool's Jerzy Dudek who is being overshadowed at Liverpool by Spain's Pepe Reina (and controversially not selected for this tournament). Their second choice keeper is West Brom's shot stopper Tomasz Kuszcza who has been playing well this season and has experience of playing in Germany (with Hertha Berlin).
Their defence should have included Derby County centre-back Tomasz Hajto who had experience of playing in Germany and he had captained the side but he failed to settle in England which cost him a place in the squad. The experienced Jacek Bak should play a prominent role in the defence - he played in the last World Cup in Japan and South Korea as did Tomasz Klos who also has a wealth of experience.
Southampton fans will be aware of Kamil Kosowski who is one of Poland's best midfield players and of course know about Grzegorz Rasiak who signed on loan recently after a torrid and unfruitful spell at Spurs. Scotland fans looking to find a team to support may well look to Poland because as well as having Artur Boruc they may well look to cheer on Maciej Zurawski who wears the famous number 7 shirt at Celtic Park and has been a fans favourite since joining in July 2005. Ex-England boss Glen Hoddle manages Wolverhampton Wanderers these days and he has been impressed with Tomasz 'Franek' Frankowski since signing him in the January transfer window though he too failed to make the last 23 - his place taken by Pawel Brzozek. England fans may remember Frankowski for the volleyed equaliser he scored against them in the World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford in 2005.