Poland (POL)
Even the most diehard Polish supporters were pleasantly surprised at
their team's success in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™
in advance of their last group match away to England.
The venue of the 2006 finals has been a happy hunting ground for the
Poles in the past, as the East Europeans sealed the greatest triumph in
their footballing history on German soil with third place at the 1974
finals, a feat they were to repeat at Spain 1982.
The current team coached by Pawel Janas lost home and away to England
but won all their remaining eight qualifiers, and are now determined to
open a new chapter in their country's football lore. As keeper Jerzy
Dudek declares: "We want to make new history."
The time is certainly ripe, as the glories of the past are rapidly
fading from the collective memory in Poland. They won gold at the
Olympic Football Tournament in Munich before the third-place finish at
the 1974 finals again in Germany two years later - Grzegorz Lato's
seventh goal of the tournament proving enough to pip the Brazilians to
the consolation honour.
Poland emulated that achievement with a victory over France at Spain
82. Their team that year was marshalled by world-class midfielder
Zbigniew Boniek, later to move to Juventus in the biggest transfer
involving an East European player of his generation.
There was a 16-year gap before Poland reappeared at the FIFA World Cup
finals, and their campaign at Korea/Japan '02 proved a terrible
let-down as their outstanding performances in qualifying crumbled into
a first-round exit from the finals.
Another bitter pill to swallow came with their failure to reach the
UEFA EURO 2004 finals, so all eyes are now on the squad preparing for
Germany 2006. Coach Janas picks from a parade of established stars and
Poland's impressive qualifying march will certainly have made their
potential finals opponents sit up and take notice. The first-choice
strike pairing of Maciej Zurawski and Tomas Frankowski amassed a total
of 14 goals in qualifying and will spearhead the latest quest for fresh
glories.
