Search: 'Lech Poznan'

Poland, the Euro 2012 co-hosts are struggling to find a common language in the dressing room, writes Liam Nolan

During the past six months, Poland’s coach Franciszek Smuda has faced a barrage of domestic criticism for trying to lure footballers with Polish ancestry to play for the national team. Five of Smuda’s starting 11 were either born or raised abroad. French born Ludovic Obraniak (Bordeaux) and Damien Perquis (Sochaux) cannot speak Polish, and three German-Poles – Eugen Polanski, Adam Matuszczyk and Sebastian Boenisch – feel much more at ease speaking in German.

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With the country preparing to host Euro 2012, Maciej Slominski is concerned that Poland’s national team may not have much to offer at the tournament

After the Polish public stopped believing scare stories about the relocation of Euro 2012 to Germany, Italy or France because of a lack of progress in our infrastructure, a blow came from an unexpected angle. All of a sudden we realised we don’t have a team that will be able to compete in the Euros.

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The former European champions spent heavily throughout the 1990s and ultimately suffered after floating on the stock market. A similar financial fate is unlikely to befall the cash-rich visitors. Uli Hesse reports

Somehow I knew they were English the moment I spotted them. They were selling so-called friendship scarves – half yellow for hosts Borussia Dortmund, half sky-blue for visitors Manchester City – like so many other people have done along this paved passageway that leads from the station to the stadium. And they looked like any of the other guys here who hope to make a few euros when Dortmund have a home game, even if it’s a meaningless pre-season friendly, by selling canned beer or fan gear. One was holding a scarf aloft, the other stood with a huge nondescript sports bag slung over his shoulder. Still, I would have bet a fiver they were English.

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Lech Poznan are back in the first division and Nicholas Walton is not the only one hoping they may provide a blueprint for the revival of Polish club football

The World Cup was a fantastic opportunity for Polish football. As the first European qualifiers, the Poles believed they could make the most of a top-class goal­keeper, a quality striker and a weak group to show that, after 16 years, they were back. But the red and white painted faces vanished from Warsaw’s streets as quick­ly as they had appeared, thanks to humbling defeats by South Korea and Portugal. Sud­denly it was back to waiting for another season of crumbling stadiums with small crowds of hooligans fighting each other and uninspired football on the pitch.

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Scotland isn't the only place where football clubs have switched towns lately – it's happened at the top level in Poland this season, as Vaughan Elliot reports

Mid-May of last year was a bleak time for Lechia Gdansk: relegation to one of Poland’s eight regional third divisions had become inevitable and respectable mid-season crowds of 4,000 had dropped into three figures for the first time anyone could remember. Supporters left the stadium after the last game pondering next season and dreaming of miracles, or at least a couple of decent players to lift the gloom of impending local league football.

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