Poland 1:0 Armenia

Well, Poland didn't play better, and so to no surprise the result was a lot closer than the one against Azerbaijan. Beenhakker opted to play Zurawski up front by himself, leaving 5 midfielders to create chances for him. The problem was that the Armenians played a very defensive match and did a good job clogging up the midfield. Unfortunately it took Poland most of the match to figure out it was a lot easier to try and go over all those defenders than to try and go through all of them. It wasn't uncommon to find a midfielder with possession to be surrounded by three or four defenders. Not much can be generated from that.

Poland tried some long balls late, but only to ruin some otherwise good chances. Zurawski did score, although he showed his best form playing setup man...unfortunately the man he was setting up (Gargula), was about as good at finishing as he was. Had Poland relied more on long balls there would have been more quality chances, and likely, more scoring. A bit disappointing that Beenhakker didn't realize quicker how ineffective his strategy and formation was. Zurawski just isn't a player who should be left alone. When he did well in WCQ he was paired with Frankowski, when he played well earlier in Euro Qualifying he was in midfield making plays. He is good player, but in a formation where he is the lone striker just isn't where he shines.

The player who stood out most would probably have been Krzynowek who showed some great individual effort and once again proved why he is the class of the NT. Arguably the best player on the field. Then again, there wasn't much competition.

However, the important part was that Poland once again got maximum points and has not lost a single match since the terrible start they had in qualifying when they lost to Finland. Poland sits atop first place in the group with 16 points, five points better than the three teams tied for second place - all of whom have a game in hand on Poland. So in essence, Poland has a two point advantage over the next competitor.

The next series of fixtures takes place on June 2nd, when Poland will again begin another series of matches against Armenia (on the 2nd), and Azerbaijan (on the 6th). This time both matches will be played away from home, but Poland should still take full points away if they want to hold onto top spot. Finland-Serbia will be the key match of interest, as a loss by one could put them too far behind to recover, while a draw would give Poland two fewer teams to worry about, at least, for the time being.

Poland 5:0 Azerbaijan

A tad late on covering this, but Poland beat Azerbaijan 5:0 on Saturday. Not quite the 8:0 drubbing they laid on them a couple years ago, but also not a narrow 1:0 like the one over Kazakhstan earlier that worried many.

All in all it was an expected result. Poland didn't exactly bring their A game, but brought a game good enough to beat a lowly opponent. The one bright spot was the success in the air that Poland had against Azerbaijan, with numerous goals coming via headers. Then again, even Lukasz Sosin was able to score off two headers against the Saudis, so maybe it does not prove so much. Either way, Poland will need to have a better match against Armenia today to ensure it is not as close a match as the one against Kazakhstan.

Perhaps of more importance, however, will be how the others in the group do. Kazakhstan has already done Poland a big favour in defeating the Serbs - who will now take on Portugal. If the Serbs win they will stay right on Poland's tail with still one game in hand...if the Portugese win they will climb back into the hunt, and the Portugese are a much more dangerous team to have luring around than the Serbs. With that said, I'll be left hoping for a draw.

Player Updates

Players In Action
- Boruc
- Bronowicki
- Dudka
- Garguła
- Jelen
- Kaźmierczak ***Goal Scored***
- Kuszczak
- Krzynówek
- Lewandowski
- Łobodziński
- Murawski
- Rasiak (Off-70')
- Radomski (Sub-89')
- Smolarek
- Sobolewski ***Goal Scored***
- Wasilewski
- Michal Zewlakow

Players Out of Action
- Błaszczykowski
- Dudek
- Kowalewski
- Matusiak (Injured)
- Żurawski (Injured)

Squad Named for Azerbaijan and Armenia

Goalkeepers
Boruc, Kowalewski, Kuszczak

Defenders
Bąk, Bronowicki, Dudka, Golański, Kokoszka, Radomski, Wasilewski, Żewłakow

Midfielders
Błaszczykowski, Garguła, Kaźmierczak, Krzynówek, Lewandowski, Łobodziński, Murawski, Smolarek, Sobolewski

Strikers
Jeleń, Matusiak, Rasiak Żurawski

Reserves
Fabiański, Baszczyński, Głowacki, Wawrzyniak, Iwański, Ujek, B. Grzelak, R. Grzelak

Player Updates

Noteworthy Performances:

• Jelen scored the match-winning goal for club Auxerre in a 1:0 victory where he tallied his 7th goal of the season.

• Wichniarek also got his 7th goal of the season on a penalty kick; putting him one better than Smolarek to date, who over the weekend got an assist for Borussia in a losing effort.

• Jacek Bak scored his second goal of the season for Al Ahli.

• Boruc meanwhile backstopped Celtic to a 2:1 win over Dunfermline, without the help of NT partner Maciej Zurawski.

• Rasiak netted his 18th of the season in a 3:1 loss.
  

Notable Players IN Action (but not achieving anything noteworthy)

- Kazimierczak
- Kosowski (Sub-61')
- Krzynowek
- Kukielka
- Matusiak (Sub-70')
- Rzasa
- Wasilewski
- Michal Zewlakow

Notable Players NOT In Action:
- Bialkowski
- Dudek
- Kuszczak
- Niedzielan
- Olisadebe
- Radomski
- Zuraw

Out of Action Due to Injury:
- Frankowski
- Zurawski

U20 World Cup Draw

Group A
Canada
Chile
Congo
Austria

Group B
Spain
Uruguay
Jordan
Zambia

Group C
Portugal
New Zealand
Gambia
Mexico

Group D
Poland
Brazil
Korea Republic
USA

Group E
Argentina
Czech Republic
Korea DPR
Panama

Group F
Japan
Scotland
Nigeria
Costa Rica

All of Poland's matches are to take place in Montreal. The schedule is as follows:

June 30 ::: Poland - Brazil
July 3 ::: USA - Poland
July 6 ::: Poland - Korea Republic

Looks pretty much like 2002. Hopefully better results this time.