Poland Place 4th in World League; Dudek Set to Join Real

Crashing Back Down

Poland was the only undefeated team in the World League going into yesterday's match against Brazil. No one would have faulted them for losing to a tough Brazilian team, but given how good they were going and all the home support, one would have thought the odds would have been in Poland's favour. Unfortunately they were only able to take one set from the Brazilians.

The real shocker was that the exact same fate would follow the next day against the Americans whom they beat earlier in the tournament with ease, beating them in straight sets. One could argue the team was tired and perhaps unmotivated for a 3rd place game after looking so unbeatable for most of the tournament. But every team had just exhausting a schedule as Poland did, and again, with the home support you would assume that would be enough to get the team pumped up to get at least to the podium? Apparently not.

Looks like disappointment for the Polish team is not exclusive to soccer.

Dudek Finds His Bench

Dudek appears excited at the prospect of warming a new bench this season as he is all but done in his agreement with Real Madrid, with only the formality of a physical standing in the way before he can begin training with the club

The decision strikes me as an odd one, as with the many teams interested in him, why he would choose the biggest name instead of perhaps the biggest opportunity? Going to Real Madrid will ensure he will not make many appearances. So either he has given up hopes on playing for the NT again (maybe he should with the likes of Boruc, Kuszczak, Kowalewski, Fabianski, and maybe even Bialkowski vying for top spot) or he is so enamoured with Real Madrid that he doesn't care. I was hoping Dudek would be a bit smarter in this regard, as Real never really looked like the best choice for him at all.