Polishsoccer.net - Polish soccer (football), news, results, and stats.

Poland opened Euro 2012 with a 1-1 draw against Greece in a match they probably felt they could have one but in the end were lucky not to lose.  Poland dominated Greece in the first half but only managed one goal, which came from a 17th minute Robert Lewandowski header.

Towards the end of the first half Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off for a dubious second yellow card.

The tactical changes Fernando Santos made at half time closed the gaps in defense and made them look much more dangerous going forward, even with only 10 men on the field.  Poland could not adapt and Dimitris Salpingidis tied the game in the 51st minute.

Things went from bad to worse for Poland as in the 69th minute Salpingidis was brought down by Wojciech Szczesny in the box.  It was a straight red for the Polish keeper and a penalty for Greece.  Thankfully Szcz?sny's replacement Przemyslaw Tyton saved the spot kick from Giorgos Karagounis.

Although Poland avoided defeat in the opening match it is rather worrying that what looked like a very potent attack in the first half was so easily shut down even with a man advantage.  The meeting on Tuesday against powerful Russia is looking rather ominous.


For more tactical analysis on the match check out Zonal Marking.

There now only just hours left before Poland take on Greece in the Euro 2012 opener.

As co-hosts Poland has had to prepare for the tournament by playing friendly matches for over two years.  The results this year have been encouraging as they lost only once, 0-2 to Italy.  The run also included a 2-2 draw with Germany and a 0-0 draw with Portugal.

Poland have not conceded a goal in the last five matches and are undefeated in six.

Key for Poland will be the performances of the Borussia Dortmund trio, Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski, and Lukasz Piszczek.  Those three have had an excellent season in the Bundesliga and it is hoped that they can transfer that to the National Team.  Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has established himself as the undisputed number one at Arsenal.  Terek Grozny left winger Maciej Rybus has had some good performances in recent friendlies.

Poland's squad.

The last six meetings between Poland and Greece have been friendlies.  The last time Poland met Greece was in Larissa on March 12, 2011, which ended in a 0-0 draw.  Before that Poland won 2-0 in Bydgoszcz on August 12, 2009.  Both goals were scored by Ludovic Obraniak.  On April 29, 2004 in Szczecin Poland won 1-0.  Greece went on to win the European Championship that year.

Greece qualified for Euro 2012 as winners of qualifying Group F with a record of 7 wins and 3 draws, 14 goals for and 5 against.  They finished 2 points ahead of Croatia.


Previews from around the web:
Zonal Marking: Preview of Poland's tactics