UEFA Euro 2012

Vastly experienced coach Franciszek Smuda has been happy to look beyond the Ekstraklasa to compose his squad.

Including players with Polish roots reared in France and Germany allows the coach to engineer a more high-energy approach, which has surprised opponents including Argentina and Germany in recent friendlies.

The midfield is generally built to contain.

Ahead of it, Robert Lewandowski provides options; he can hold the ball up to relieve pressure, drop deep to receive and even get in behind defences.

If all fit, this is likely to be Poland’s starting XI at Euro 2012 (4-2-3-1 formation): Wojciech Szczesny; Lukasz Piszczek, Damien Perquis, Marcin Wasilewski, Jakub Wawrzyniak; Dariusz Dudka, Adrian Mierzejewski; Jakub Blaszczykowski, Eugen Polanski, Ludovic Obraniak and lone striker Robert Lewandowski.

The country’s outstanding player and biggest goal threat is Lewandowski who has been in the form of his life over the last six/seven months, scoring goals aplenty.

Voted the Bundesliga’s ‘Player of the Year’ last season after firing Borussia Dortmund to the domestic double, his hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the German Cup final took his tally to 30 goals in all competitions.

There’s no doubt, that his form and fitness are absolutely critical to Poland’s chances – they have no other forward in his class!

Another key player for the Poles is Lukasz Piszczek, originally a right-winger or striker, who switched to right-back in 2009 to great effect.

He too plays for Borussia Dortmund, and has been ‘watched’ by Real Madrid.

Photo credit: Roger Gorączniak

 

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