Jump to content

Poland national football team: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m Reverting possible vandalism by 199.185.67.207 to version by Jaysyx. False positive? Report it. Thanks, ClueBot NG. (467807) (Bot)
No edit summary
Line 45: Line 45:
{{MedalSilver | [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Football at the 1992 Summer Olympics|Team]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Football at the 1992 Summer Olympics|Team]]}}
{{MedalBottom}}
{{MedalBottom}}
The '''Poland national football team''' ({{lang-pl|Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej}}) represents [[Poland]] in [[association football]] and is controlled by the [[Polish Football Association]], the governing body for [[football in Poland]]. Poland's home ground is Silesian Stadium in [[Chorzów]] and their head coach is Franciszek Smuda.
The '''Poland national football team''' ({{lang-pl|Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej}}) represents [[Poland]] in [[association football]] and is controlled by the [[Polish Football Association]], the governing body for [[football in Poland]]. Poland's home ground is Silesian Stadium in [[Chorzów]] and their head coach is Franciszek Smuda. Noman is the singel greatest player on this team that is very bad. No one came close to his greatness and everybody was below him.


Poland's football history is littered with boom and bust periods, with legendary teams such as the one of the mid-seventies that held [[England national football team|England]] to a draw at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]] to qualify for the [[1974 FIFA World Cup|World Cup in 1974]], going on to finish third that year. Poland would accomplish the same result in [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982]] where they also finished in third place beating [[France national football team|France]] 3–2. Poland's largest win was over Norway with a score of 9–0 until the 10–0 win against San Marino on April 1, 2009.
Poland's football history is littered with boom and bust periods, with legendary teams such as the one of the mid-seventies that held [[England national football team|England]] to a draw at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]] to qualify for the [[1974 FIFA World Cup|World Cup in 1974]], going on to finish third that year. Poland would accomplish the same result in [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982]] where they also finished in third place beating [[France national football team|France]] 3–2. Poland's largest win was over Norway with a score of 9–0 until the 10–0 win against San Marino on April 1, 2009.

Revision as of 20:31, 16 June 2011

Poland Poland
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Biało-czerwoni
("The white and reds")
Białe Orły
("The White Eagles")
AssociationPolish Football Association
(Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachFranciszek Smuda
CaptainJakub Błaszczykowski
Most capsMichał Żewłakow (102)
Top scorerWłodzimierz Lubański (48)
Home stadiumNational Stadium, Warsaw
FIFA codePOL
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current71
Highest16 (September 2007)
Lowest73 (December 2010)
First international
 Hungary 1 – 0 Poland 
(Budapest, Hungary; 18 December 1921)
Biggest win
 Poland 10 – 0 San Marino 
(Kielce, Poland; 1 April 2009)
Biggest defeat
 Denmark 8 – 0 Poland 
(Copenhagen, Denmark; 26 June 1948)
World Cup
Appearances7 (first in 1938)
Best result3rd place (1974, 1982)
European Championship
Appearances1 (first in 2008)
Best resultRound 1, 2008
Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Gold medal – first place 1972 Munich Team
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montreal Team
Silver medal – second place 1992 Barcelona Team

The Poland national football team (Template:Lang-pl) represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland. Poland's home ground is Silesian Stadium in Chorzów and their head coach is Franciszek Smuda. Noman is the singel greatest player on this team that is very bad. No one came close to his greatness and everybody was below him.

Poland's football history is littered with boom and bust periods, with legendary teams such as the one of the mid-seventies that held England to a draw at Wembley to qualify for the World Cup in 1974, going on to finish third that year. Poland would accomplish the same result in 1982 where they also finished in third place beating France 3–2. Poland's largest win was over Norway with a score of 9–0 until the 10–0 win against San Marino on April 1, 2009.

Poland also won the gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and the silver medal in 1976 in Montreal as well in 1992 silver medal in Barcelona. They first qualified for the European Football Championships in 2008, although they will compete as joint hosts in 2012 European Football Championship.

History

1919–1939 Early Years

The Polish Football Federation (Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej) was established on December 20, 1919 in Warsaw, Poland. Poland would play their first official international match on December 18, 1921 in Budapest where they lost to Hungary 1–0. Their first international win would come on May 28, 1922 where they took on Sweden in Stockholm and beat them 2–1. Poland qualified for their first ever World cup in 1937 when they beat Yugoslavia 4–0, and 1–0 in the two qualifying matches and ensured their place in the 1938 World Cup in France.

During their debut in the World Cup Poland would face off against Brazil which would become one of the most memorable matches in the history of the World Cup. Even though Brazil was not regarded as the world’s top team in the 1930s, it was still believed to be a very good, hard-to-beat side. Under these circumstances, Polish team, which had never before participated on such level, was supposed to lose the game against the South Americans. Thus, the defeat was not a sensation. However, all fans were surprised at the style with which the Poles played its lone game of the tournament. The white and reds got to the extra time, only then losing 5–6. Ernest Wilimowski, who played his club football for Ruch Chorzów at the time, scored four of five goals for Poland, which to date is one of the most impressive individual performances in the history of the World Cup.

Poland played what would be their last international match before the outbreak of World War II against the 1938 World Cup Runners-up Hungary. The match stands out as an achievement as Poland defeated the strong favored Hungarian side 4–2.

1946–1972

On June 11, 1946 following the aftermath of World War II, Poland played their first international friendly match against Norway in Oslo. The game ended with a defeat as Norway won by the score of 3–1. The biggest success in the early years after the war was the victory against one of Europe’s best at the time the Czechoslovakian team. Poland defeated their southern neighbors 3–1.

Poland would suffer the worst defeat in the team's history on April 26, 1948 with a 0–8 loss to the Danish side. Poland would later erase that memory as they posted their second highest ever victory in Szczecin when they took down Norway 9–0 on September 4, 1963. The game marked the debut for Włodzimierz Lubański. He scored one of the goals in the game, which would eventually be one of many. Lubański became the all-time top scorer for Poland while playing from 1963 to 1980 scoring 48 goals in 75 appearances. This victory was surpassed on April 1, 2009 in Kielce when Poland defeated San Marino 10–0.

On December 1, 1970 Poland’s football history would change forever all due to one man. Kazimierz Górski was elected as the head coach of the team. His success with the team was evident from the start with a gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Górski would later lead the team to another medal at the 1976 Olympics were they captured silver. However, nothing matched the two bronze medals at the 1974 and 1982 World Cups.

1974 World Cup 3rd Place

Grzegorz Lato (left)

Poland being mostly unknown on the international football scene before 1974 shook up the football world during the World Cup in Germany. However, this was no huge surprise as the core of the team successfully achieved a gold medal place in the Munich Olympics in 1972. The Olympics were not considered a major tournament by most Western nations, but Eastern European countries bypassed the amateur rules by fielding their full national teams, as most players also had employment with national industries or within the army. With their lightning speed and incredible team chemistry they were almost unstoppable. In qualifying they surprised everyone by eliminating England, quarter-finalists in 1970 and Champions in 1966.

Poland celebrating victory over Brazil 1974

In their opening match of Germany 74 Poland met Argentina, a team that was appearing in their 6th World Cup. Within eight minutes Poland were up 2–0, Grzegorz Lato opened the scoring in the 7th minute and just a minute later Andrzej Szarmach doubled the lead. In the 60th minute Argentina cut the lead in half when Ramon Heredia scored. But two minutes later Lato got his second, which turned out to be the winning goal as Carlos Babington gave Argentina their second in the 66th. The match finished 3–2 for Poland.

Poland easily beat the Caribbean nation of Haiti 7–0 in their second game. The goals included a hat-trick from Szarmach and two from Lato. In their final match of the first stage Poland met Italy, who were 2nd at the previous World Cup in 1970. Poland were already through to the Second Round but needed at least a tie to win the group. At half-time Poland was leading 2–0 on goals from Andrzej Szarmach and Kazimierz Deyna. It was not until the 86th minute that Italy managed a consolation goal through Fabio Capello. This gave Poland their third consecutive win, which led them to win the group. In the second round Poland first won 1–0 against a Swedish side, which had not let in any goals in their first three matches. Lato scored the only goal of the game. Next was Yugoslavia who had drawn with Brazil and Scotland and won 9–0 against Zaire in the first round. Poland was awarded a penalty in the 24th minute and took the lead when Deyna converted. Stanislav Karasi tied it up for Yugoslavia in the 43rd. Lato won it for Poland again when he scored in the 62nd making the final score 2–1 in Poland’s favor.

On July 3, 1974 came the game that could have sent Poland into the World Cup Final. They played against the eventual champions West Germany. It had rained all day long, the field was entirely flooded. Poland wanted the game postponed but the Austrian referee would not agree. The game went ahead. Poland needed a win to be in the final, a tie was enough for the Germans. But in the miserably wet conditions Poland's speed was of no use since the ball would not roll like it does on a dry field. Gerd Müller scored the winning goal in the 76th minute for Germany. The whole country was crushed.

Poland would end the amazing run with a 1–0 victory over Brazil in the third place game. Lato scored the winning goal his 7th of the tournament crowning him the top scorer of the World Cup.

1978 World Cup

In qualifying Poland denied Portugal their second World Cup appearance when in 1966 they had captured 3rd place. Poland opened the World Cup against their rivals from four years prior and the current Champions, West Germany. This time the match ended in a 0–0 draw.

Grzegorz Lato continued his scoring ways with the only goal in the 1–0 win over African side Tunisia in the second game. In the final first round match Poland met North American nation Mexico. Zbigniew Boniek playing in his first World Cup opened the scoring in the 43rd minute. The Mexicans drew level through Victor Rangel in the 52nd minute, but four minutes later Kazimierz Deyna put Poland ahead once again. Then Boniek scored his second in the 84th to secure the 3–1 win.

In the second round Poland met three South American teams. In 1974 Poland had played and won against both Argentina and Brazil, both teams would get their revenge this time around. First Argentina beat the Poles 2–0 with two goals from tournament top scorer Mario Kempes. Poland then defeated Peru 1–0 with a goal from Andrzej Szarmach. In what was Poland's last match of this World Cup Brazil opened the scoring in the 12th minute on a goal from Nelinho. Even though Lato equalized one minute before half-time it was not to be for Poland. Two goals from Roberto in the 57th and 62nd minute wrapped up the 3–1 win for Brazil.

1982 World Cup 3rd Place

The presence of Górski’s Eagles was slowly dissolving by 1982, and only Lato, Szarmach, Kusto and Żmuda remained from the ’74 squad. However, the white and reds were an exciting mix of veterans and upstart youngsters. This was soon to be Zibi’s team and the Cup time to shine. Poland was in fact a pre-tourney favorite to go far. World Cup España also featured a new format for the tournament, with both an expansion to the overall pool to twenty-four and of the second group round to twelve.

Poland won a spot in Group A, placing them with Italy, Cameroon and Peru. As often appears to be the case historically, Poland started slowly. On day two of the tournament, Poland opened with a respectable 0–0 draw against the Italians. Nevertheless, the defense played a great game holding Paolo Rossi scoreless, the only time the eventual champion Italians were to be shut out during the entire tournament. The Italy game was followed by an inexplicable 0–0 draw with Cameroon.

Everyone either awaited a Poland goal explosion or was ready to write the squad off as too dependent on their aging stars. The former came. A torrent of goals rained on Peru to close out Polish group play with a 5–1 onslaught. Five different Poles scored including Smolarek, Zibi and Lato, in what would be his final World Cup goal. Lato also had one assist and Zibi added two. Due to Italy’s first round results, which consisted of three draws, Poland won the group.

Then came one for the ages. In one of the most impressive one-man shows in Cup history, Zibi netted a hat trick against Belgium in the first game of Group 1 play, accounting for all three goals in the 3–0 victory. Zibi would be key in the following match as well against the Soviet Union, but not in positive fashion. In the midst of the tense scoreless draw, Zibi was yellow carded for the second time and thus had to sit and watch the following match. The Poles would eventually be stopped in the semi-finals. The opponent was once again Italy, winners of Group 3 and eliminators of Brazil. This would be no rematch of the first meeting, though, as the adaptable Italians were not to be stymied. Rossi ran the shagged-out Poland ragged, scoring in the 22nd and 72nd minute in a reportedly easy 2–0 win.

Poland saved some face in the third-place game, feeling freewheeling enough to beat France 3–2 in a game that featured about ten minutes of absolute dominance by the Poles surrounding the halftime break. This game along with the World Cup would be remembered as an end to the golden era of Polish football.

1986 World Cup

The 1986 World Cup in Mexico would mark Poland's last appearance on the World's greatest stage in the 20th century. Poland qualified to the tournament by finishing in first place over Belgium on goal differential and qualified for their fourth consecutive World Cup.

Poland's opponents in Group F would be Morocco, Portugal, and England. During the first game the fans spotted that the magic of the earlier years was gone as they only managed a scoreless draw against a surprising Morocco team that would finish top of the group. In the second game hope was restored with an impressive 1–0 victory over Portugal in which Włodzimierz Smolarek got the winning goal. In the last match of the group stages Poland took on England. England won the match 3–0, with all three goals scored by Gary Lineker, however, Poland still managed to reach the knockout stages after Morocco surprised Portugal with a 3–1 victory.

Due to Poland finishing in third place in the group they were drawn against a strong Brazilian side in the knock-out stages. The Brazilians gave Poland no chance after defeating them 4–0, sending them home.

1987–2002

After the golden era in the seventies and eighties Poland would encounter a period of drought being unable to qualify for any major tournament. During the late eighties to the late nineties Poland’s biggest achievement would be capturing the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. There were high hopes for the young team who narrowly missed out on the gold medal (losing the final 3–2 to the hosts Spain after conceding a goal in injury time), and the two star strikers Wojciech Kowalczyk and Andrzej Juskowiak in particular, but ultimately this generation achieved nothing in international football.

2002 World Cup

Poland’s qualification to the 2002 World Cup marked their first appearance in the tournament since 1986. During the qualifications Poland finished top of their group and qualified for the World Cup in Korea and Japan as the first team out of Europe.

Although nobody expected Poland to repeat their feats of 1974 and 1982 most fans and the press did expect at least the second round. Both South Korea and the USA were viewed as teams easily within Poland's reach, particularly after the excellent qualifying campaign. Portugal was another matter but many did not dismiss the possibility of a draw. However, in the first game the South Koreans stunned Poland with a 2–0 win. The poor performance led to calls for wholesale changes to the team that was to face Portugal in the second game. In the end the manager Jerzy Engel only made one change and the Poles were duly hammered 4–0 and eliminated from the tournament. In the last game Engel fielded a completely overhauled team and Poland showed what could have been by completely outclassing the USA, but, in the light of two previous defeats, the 3–1 victory was too little, too late.

2006 World Cup

During the 2006 World Cup Poland came in with high hopes of qualifying out of the group stages for the first time since 1986 after a solid qualifying campaign. Being drawn to the group A, which consisted of the hosts Germany, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, Poland was looked upon as a favorite with Germany to progress through the knockout stages. However, just like four years earlier, the campaign was a massive disappointment. Again, Poland lost their first game, this time to Ecuador. The final score was 2–0 with goals from Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado. Poland did have to major chances to score against Ecuador though; with first Ireneusz Jelen's and then Pawel Brozek's left foot strikes hitting the woodwork (crossbar and then post). Poland lost to group leader Germany on June 14, in an epic game, where goalkeeper Artur Boruc made several very critically important saves. The final score was 1–0 though, with a goal scored by Oliver Neuville in the 91st minute, thus ensuring their exit from the World Cup. In the last match Poland beat also eliminated Costa Rica 2–1 with both Polish goals headed in by center back Bartosz Bosacki, coming from behind from Ronald Gomez.

2008 European Championship

Ebi Smolarek led Poland with 9 goals in qualifying.

Under the new manager Leo Beenhakker, who replaced Paweł Janas in 2006, Poland began its Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in a distinctly unimpressive fashion, losing 1–3 to Finland at Zawisza Stadium in Bydgoszcz. They followed that up with a 1–1 draw against Serbia at Legia Stadium in Warsaw on September 6, 2006. Their first win came against Kazakhstan on October 7, 2006 (final score 0:1). Just four points from three relatively easy games put the Poles on the brink of early elimination.

However, in the next five games Poland notched five straight victories. Poland faced Portugal on October 11, 2006, winning 2–1 in Chorzów, after an excellent performance. Next they headed to Brussels where they defeated Belgium 1:0. They recorded wins against Azerbaijan (5–0) and Armenia (1–0) at home in Poland, and away to Azerbaijan (1–3), however they failed to pick up any points in Armenia on June 6, 2007 (0–1).

Poland then traveled to Lisbon to face Portugal, the match ended in a 2–2 draw. They returned from Helsinki with another point (0–0). A power outage briefly marred the rematch against Kazakhstan but Poland collected three points (3–1). Poland clinched its Euro 2008 berth with a 2–0 victory against Belgium in Chorzów and followed that up with a draw (2–2) against Serbia in Belgrade. Poland finished its qualifying campaign as group leaders. Ebi Smolarek finished with 9 goals under his tally for Poland and was the third overall top scorer in the qualifications only behind David Healy of Northern Ireland (13 goals), and Eduardo of Croatia (10 goals).

Poland’s qualification to the Euro 2008 marked their first appearance in the tournament. Despite qualifying for the tournament with an impressing campaign edging Portugal to the first place in their qualifying group the tournament would be a disappointing debut.

Poland was drawn in the group that consisted of Germany, the co-hosts Austria, and Croatia. In a rematch from the 2006 World Cup Poland took on Germany in the first game. The match ended with a victory for Germany with the final score being 2–0. Lukas Podolski the Polish-born German striker scored the two goals for Germany in the game. In the second game Poland would take on the co-hosts Austria in Vienna. Roger Guerreiro opened the scoring for Poland in the 30th minute. Austria equalized in stoppage time in the 93rd minute after a very controversial penalty, which the Austrian striker Ivica Vastic converted making the final score 1–1. In any hopes of qualifying Poland would need a large victory in their last game against Croatia. However, Croatia went on to beat Poland 1–0 and eliminated them from the tournament.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Poland's qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup has been their worst to date. Despite being drawn in a seemingly easy group with Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and San Marino, Poland finished in an embarrassing 5th place only ahead of San Marino, with a terrible record of just 3 victories 2 draws and 5 losses. The campaign started off well enough with a total of 7 points in the first three matches. A respectable 1–1 draw against future world cup qualifiers Slovenia was seen as a undesirable result at start. A routine victory over San Marino, and an impressive win over the Czech Republic left Poland at the top of the table after 3 games. The match against Slovakia in Bratislava was seen as the turning point in qualifying. Poland was leading 1–0 until the 85th minute when Stanislav Šesták scored an equalizer after an error by Artur Boruc. Then just a minute later Šesták got his second making the final score 2–1 in Slovakia's favor. The next opponent was Northern Ireland; the match, which was played at Windsor Park in Belfast, was seen as a crucial match for Poland, as their hopes of qualification hung in the balance. The ground was not in the best condition, which allowed for a horrific mistake in the 61st minute when Michał Żewłakow passed the ball back to Boruc who miskicked the ball while it hopped over his foot on a bumpy pitch. Northern Ireland went on to win the game 3–2. Following that crucial loss Poland recorded their largest victory ever, defeating San Marino 10–0. However, in the last three matches Poland managed just a 1–1 draw with Northern Ireland, and two losses to the eventual two World Cup qualifiers Slovenia and Slovakia.

Euro 2012

On April 18, 2007 in Cardiff, Wales, Poland along with Ukraine were elected by the UEFA’s Executive Committee to co-host the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. It will be the 14th European Championship. Poland’s and Ukraine’s bid defeated the other shortlisted bids from Italy and Croatia/Hungary, becoming the third successful joint-bid for the European Championship, after those of Belgium/Netherlands, for Euro 2000, and Austria/Switzerland for Euro 2008. The Polish-Ukrainian hosting is seen as a way of shifting the focus towards regions and nations of central and eastern Europe, whose population demonstrates a strong feeling for football, but are less developed in terms of the quality of the local leagues and football infrastructure, when compared with western Europe.

Competitive record

Achievements

  • Third Place (2) 19741974, 1982 1982
  • Gold medal (1) 1972 Olympics 1972
  • Silver Medal (2) 1976 Olympics 1976, 1976 Olympics 1992

Team image

Names

According to the official FIFA Trigramme the team’s name is abbreviated as POL. This acronym is used to identify the team in FIFA, UEFA, and other matches. The same acronym is also used under the International Organization for Standardization. "Polish national football team" can be translated into Polish as "Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej". The team's nicknames include "Biało-czerwoni" which means "The white and reds" and "Białe Orły" which translates into "The White Eagles". These are the most common names given to the Polish national football team.

National kits

The national kits of Poland reflect the colors of the national flag which is white and red. Apart from minor details (in the 1920s the socks in the home kit were striped), the design remains unchanged since 1921. The home kit consists of a white shirt, red shorts and white socks; the away kit is all red (though sometimes worn with white shorts). On the rare occasions both home and away kits clash with the opponent's colours third kit is available, usually in either black or blue (currently navy blue with white-red sleeves). The kit is always adorned with the white eagle, Polish coat of arms, and not, as with many other national teams, the national football federation logo. The current kits are provided by Nike.

Stadium

The national football team of Poland does not have one set stadium where it plays its matches. Various cities have been granted hosting duties, including Bydgoszcz, Chorzów, Gdańsk, Kielce, Kraków, Łódź, Poznań, Szczecin, Wrocław and Warsaw.

In recent years, many of Poland's most important matches have been played in the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów. The stadium was built in 1956 and seats 47,246 people. The record attendance came on October 20, 1956 when 100,000 fans witnessed a game between Poland and the Soviet Union, with Poland achieving a 2–1 victory. This holds the record for the most spectators to watch the Polish national football team. The stadium is currently being renovated to seat 55,210. In 1993, the stadium was designated as the official home stadium of the Polish national football team.

A new National Stadium is under construction in Warsaw with an expected capacity of 55,920 seats. Following Euro 2012, this stadium will be used as the venue for some matches of the Polish national team. Polish Football Association's President, Grzegorz Lato has stated in 2011 that the Warsaw stadium called "National Stadium" will not be Polish national football team's official national stadium.[1]

Recent and future matches

Date Venue Opponent Competition Score Goalscorer(s)
March 3, 2010 Warsaw, Poland  Bulgaria Friendly 2–0 W Błaszczykowski , R.Lewandowski
May 29, 2010 Kielce, Poland  Finland Friendly 0–0 D
June 2, 2010 Kufstein, Austria  Serbia Friendly 0–0 D
June 8, 2010 Murcia, Spain  Spain Friendly 0–6 L
August 11, 2010 Szczecin, Poland  Cameroon Friendly 0–3 L
September 4, 2010 Łódź, Poland  Ukraine Friendly 1–1 D Jeleń
September 7, 2010 Kraków, Poland  Australia Friendly 1–2 L R.Lewandowski
October 9, 2010 Chicago, United States  United States Friendly 2–2 D Matuszczyk , Błaszczykowski
October 12, 2010 Montreal, Canada  Ecuador Friendly 2–2 D Smolarek , Obraniak
November 17, 2010 Poznań, Poland  Ivory Coast[2] Friendly 3–1 W R.Lewandowski , Obraniak
December 10, 2010 Antalya, Turkey  Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendly * 2–2 D Brożek
February 6, 2011 Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal  Moldova Friendly * 1–0 W Plizga
February 9, 2011 Faro Portugal  Norway Friendly 1–0 W R.Lewandowski
March 25, 2011 Kaunas, Lithuania  Lithuania Friendly * 0–2 L
March 29, 2011 Karaiskaki, Greece  Greece Friendly 0–0 D
June 5, 2011 Warsaw, Poland  Argentina Friendly 2–1 W Mierzejewski , Brożek
June 9, 2011 Warsaw, Poland  France Friendly 0-1 L
August 10, 2011 Lubin, Poland  Georgia Friendly
September 2, 2011 Poland  Mexico Friendly
September 6, 2011 Warsaw, Poland  Germany Friendly Stadium Opening
June 8, 2012 Warsaw, Poland A2 UEFA Euro 2012 Group A
June 12, 2012 Warsaw, Poland A3 UEFA Euro 2012 Group A
June 16, 2012 Wrocław, Poland A4 UEFA Euro 2012 Group A

Matches not on specified FIFA dates and composed of Ekstraklasa players only are denoted by *.

Players

Current squad

The squad for the matches against Argentina and France.[3][4] Caps and goals correct as of June 5, 2011.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
12 1GK Grzegorz Sandomierski (1989-09-05) September 5, 1989 (age 35) 3 0 Poland Jagiellonia Białystok
1GK Wojciech Szczęsny (1990-04-18) April 18, 1990 (age 34) 4 0 England Arsenal
19 2DF Tomasz Jodłowiec (1985-03-22) March 22, 1985 (age 39) 18 0 Poland Polonia Warszawa
23 2DF Kamil Glik (1988-02-03) February 3, 1988 (age 36) 9 1 Italy Bari
26 2DF Łukasz Piszczek (1985-06-03) June 3, 1985 (age 39) 18 0 Germany Borussia Dortmund
2DF Jakub Wawrzyniak (1983-07-07) July 7, 1983 (age 41) 18 0 Poland Legia Warszawa
2DF Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (1984-01-26) January 26, 1984 (age 40) 13 0 Poland Lech Poznań
5 2DF Dariusz Dudka (1983-12-09) December 9, 1983 (age 41) 53 2 France Auxerre
25 3MF Grzegorz Krychowiak (1990-01-29) January 29, 1990 (age 34) 2 0 France Bordeaux
7 3MF Szymon Pawłowski (1986-11-04) November 4, 1986 (age 38) 7 0 Poland Zagłębie Lubin
10 3MF Ludovic Obraniak (1984-11-10) November 10, 1984 (age 40) 16 4 France Lille
15 3MF Adam Matuszczyk (1989-02-14) February 14, 1989 (age 35) 10 1 Germany Köln
11 3MF Rafał Murawski (1981-10-09) October 9, 1981 (age 43) 34 1 Poland Lech Poznań
16 3MF Jakub Błaszczykowski (captain) (1985-12-14) December 14, 1985 (age 39) 41 4 Germany Borussia Dortmund
18 3MF Adrian Mierzejewski (1986-11-04) November 4, 1986 (age 38) 12 1 Turkey Trabzonspor
3MF Cezary Wilk (1986-02-12) February 12, 1986 (age 38) 2 0 Poland Wisła Kraków
3MF Mateusz Klich (1990-06-13) June 13, 1990 (age 34) 1 0 Germany VfL Wolfsburg
4FW Paweł Brożek (1983-04-21) April 21, 1983 (age 41) 25 6 Turkey Trabzonspor
9 4FW Robert Lewandowski (1988-08-21) August 21, 1988 (age 36) 34 10 Germany Borussia Dortmund
21 4FW Kamil Grosicki (1988-06-08) June 8, 1988 (age 36) 10 0 Turkey Sivasspor
30 4FW Michał Kucharczyk (1991-03-20) March 20, 1991 (age 33) 4 0 Poland Legia Warsaw

Other recent call-ups

The following players have also appeared for the Polish NT in the last year. ★ denotes reserve for upcoming match.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Łukasz Fabiański (1985-04-18) April 18, 1985 (age 39) 18 0 England Arsenal
1GK Przemysław Tytoń (1987-02-04) February 4, 1987 (age 37) 4 0 Netherlands Roda
2DF Marcin Wasilewski (1980-06-07) June 7, 1980 (age 44) 38 1 Belgium Anderlecht
2DF Sebastian Boenisch (1987-02-01) February 1, 1987 (age 37) 2 0 Germany Werder Bremen
2DF Piotr Celeban (1985-06-25) June 25, 1985 (age 39) 4 0 Poland Śląsk Wrocław
13 2DF Arkadiusz Głowacki (1979-03-13) March 13, 1979 (age 45) 24 0 Turkey Trabzonspor
3 2DF Jakub Rzeźniczak (1986-10-26) October 26, 1986 (age 38) 6 0 Poland Legia Warsaw
4 2DF Maciej Sadlok (1989-06-29) June 29, 1989 (age 35) 14 0 Poland Polonia Warszawa
2 2DF Hubert Wołąkiewicz (1985-10-21) October 21, 1985 (age 39) 4 0 Poland Lech Poznań
6 3MF Roger Guerreiro (1982-05-25) May 25, 1982 (age 42) 25 4 Greece AEK Athens
3MF Radosław Majewski (1986-12-15) December 15, 1986 (age 38) 9 0 England Nottingham Forest
17 3MF Sławomir Peszko (1985-02-19) February 19, 1985 (age 39) 18 1 Germany Köln
4FW Ireneusz Jeleń (1981-04-09) April 9, 1981 (age 43) 28 5 France Auxerre
4FW Euzebiusz Smolarek (1981-01-19) January 19, 1981 (age 43) 47 20 Poland Polonia Warszawa

Previous squads

Notable Players

Players who appeared at least 50 times for the national team or scored at least 10 goals.

Bold- Indicates player with at least 50 caps and 10 goals.

Managers

Poland national team managers since 1922 from to
Józef Szkolnikowski 1921-03-12 1922-05-14
Józef Lustgarten 1922-05-14 1922-09-03
Kazimierz Glabisz 1923-06-03 1923-11-01
Adam Obrubański 1924-08-10 1924-08-31
Tadeusz Kuchar 1925-07-19 1925-07-19
Tadeusz Synowiec 1925-08-30 1927-06-19
Tadeusz Kuchar 1928-06-10 1928-06-10
Stefan Loth 1928-07-01 1931-10-25
Józef Kałuża 1932-05-29 1939-08-27
Henryk Reyman 1947-06-11 1947-08-31
Andrzej Przeworski 1947-09-14 1947-10-26
Zygmunt Alfus 1948-04-04 1948-09-19
Andrzej Przeworski 1948-10-10 1948-10-17
Mieczysław Szymkowiak 1949-05-08 1949-11-06
Mieczysław Szymkowiak 1950-05-01 1950-10-22
Ryszard Koncewicz 1953-05-10 1956-07-22
Alfred Nowakowski 1956-08-26 1956-08-26
Czesław Krug 1956-10-28 1956-11-16
Henryk Reyman 1957-05-19 1958-10-05
Czesław Krug 1959-05-20 1962-11-28
Wiesław Motoczyński 1963-05-15 1965-11-01
Ryszard Koncewicz 1966-01-05 1966-01-05
Antoni Brzeżańczyk 1966-05-03 1966-07-05
Alfred Nowakowski 1966-09-11 1966-10-22
Michał Matyas 1966-11-17 1967-10-29
Ryszard Koncewicz 1968-04-24 1970-10-25
Kazimierz Górski 1971-05-05 1976-07-31
Jacek Gmoch 1976-10-16 1978-09-06
Ryszard Kulesza 1978-10-11 1980-12-07
Antoni Piechniczek 1981-01-25 1986-06-16
Wojciech Łazarek 1986-10-07 1989-06-03
Andrzej Strejlau 1989-08-23 1993-09-22
Lesław Ćmikiewicz 1993-10-13 1993-11-17
Henryk Apostel 1994-02-09 1995-11-15
Władysław Stachurski 1996-02-19 1996-05-01
Antoni Piechniczek 1996-06-02 1997-05-31
Krzysztof Pawlak 1997-06-14 1997-06-14
Janusz Wójcik 1997-09-06 1999-10-09
Jerzy Engel 2000-01-26 2002-06-14
Zbigniew Boniek 2002-07-15 2002-11-20
Paweł Janas 2003-02-12 2006-06-20
Leo Beenhakker 2006-07-11 2009-09-10
Stefan Majewski 2009-09-17 2009-10-28
Franciszek Smuda 2009-10-29

See also

References