Orange Ekstraklasa Week 24

As we wrap up this weeks Ekstraklasa it has become harder to figure out who will win this year with GKS Belhatow's win over LKS Lodz they have returned to the top after a 24 hour break over Zaglebie Lubin whos won away to Wisla Plock and sre still kepping pace with Belhatow. But now we have a new contender for the title which is Wisla Krakow with their 3-1 win over Legia Warsawa and with this win they have brought themselves back into the title race. Now the surprise result of this week was Korna Kielce's loss to Odra Wodzislaw whos have now won 3 games in a row and have pulled them selves out of the relegation zone and into a pretty safe position. Now the race for to avoid relegation has started up once again because Arka Gdynia and Gornik Leczna are not being relegated which I think is a bizzare move by the PZPN but putting that asidethe lower teams are starting to play better. My Widzew Lodz has finally won a game which was against Pogon Szcecin who are now falling into a deeper and deeper hole.

Now Arka is a revived team under coach Stawowy and beat Cracovia 4-2 at home to now move 5 points clear of the playoff zone which should prove as a massive moral boost. Not the same thing could be said for Gornik Lezcna who lost to Lech Poznan with Lech still fighting to prove themselves and coach Francisek Smuda for a job, nevertheless Gornik Leczna are still seeming like a dangerous opponent that should be not taken lightly. Another team still fighting to stay alive is Gornik Zabre who lst in an exciting game 3-2 to Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski and are now teetering on the brink of playoffs and are only ahead of Gornik Leczna on goal difference.

So now we await with aticipation to see what the next weeks results will be as a massive battle at the top with Korana facing Zaglebia where a loss could prove disasterous to either team in what we call the Orange Ekstraklasa.

Robert

Player Updates

Forwards
Frankowski - DNP
Jeleń - 88'
Matusiak - DNP
Niedzielan - DNP
Olisadebe - DNP
Rasiak - DNP
Saganowski - DNP (Injured)
Ślusarski - 90'
Smolarek - 78
Wichniarek - 55'
Ma. Żewłakow - DNP
Zurawski - DNP (Injured)

Midfielders
Grzelak - 82' ; 2 Assists
Kaźmierczak - 90'
Kosowski - 40'
Krzynówek - (3)
Kukiełka - 90'
Lewandowski - 90'
Radomski - 90'
Zdebel - 90'

Defenders
Gancarczyk - 90'
Gorawski - 90'
Jop - DNP
Rząsa - 90'
Wasilewski - DNP
Mi. Żewłakow - DNP
Żuraw - 9'

Goalkeepers
Białkowski - 90'
Boruc - 90'
Dudek - 90'
Kowalewski - DNP
Kuszczak - DNP

Poland-Ukraine are Hosts for Euro 2012!

Poland-Ukraine are hosts for the 2012 European Championships. What's more surprising than the victory - is how decisive a victory it was. Capturing 8/12 votes, with only 4 going to the Italians, this wasn't even a close call.

Perhaps it is UEFA's way of sending a message that it is serious about corruption, that it truly believes these two countries can pull it off, or both. One could argue Poland had its troubles with corruption too, but Poland's government has also been fairly proactive in doing something about it. But that's also something UEFA hasn't been fond of. So why did Poland-Ukraine win this bid by such a margin?

I believe it's as much to do with not giving the tournament to Italy as it is to do with Poland-Ukraine being such a potentially great host (at least, in UEFA's eyes). Had it been a narrow victory I would gather that Poland-Ukraine impressed enough people to pull it off, but given the convincing victory, I'm more inclined to believe that it was a political statement towards the Italians. After all, despite both Poland and Italy having problems with corruption lately, the Italian case has been made much more public and perhaps put FIFA and UEFA under significant pressure to take a stand against it. The penalties assessed to the Italians have gone predominately against individual teams, losing Euro, however, hurts the country as a whole.

However, at this point it's irrelevant why it happened, as there is no reason to believe Poland-Ukraine can't be great hosts. Both are great soccer countries with strong European cultures, both have never hosted such an event, and let's also not forgot how big these two countries are and what it could mean for them in terms of revenues and foreign investment. Unlike Italy, these are two markets that haven't been saturated. Whatever the reasons this bid was given the right to host, it is also deserving of the event in many respects.

There are a number of improvements both countries are promising for 2012 - including changes to stadiums and infrastructure. Below are some of Poland's projected stadiums for 2012.

Warsaw


Poznan


The rest of the photos can be found here

View promotional videos for each major city (in Poland)

2012 is still a long way away, but it is definitely a once in a lifetime event not worth missing. One that I'm definitely going to use as an excuse to go overseas.

Player Updates

Forwards
Jeleń - 90'
Niedzielan - DNP
Matusiak - DNP
Rasiak - 88'
Saganowski - DNP; Injured
Ślusarski - (5)
Smolarek - 90'
Wichniarek - (8)
Ma. Żewłakow - Sub (77+)
Żurawski - DNP; Injured

Midfielders
Gorawski - 70'
Grzelak - DNP
Kaźmierczak - 90'
Kosowski - DNP
Krzynówek - 90' ; Assist
Kukiełka - 90'
Radomski - DNP
Zdebel - 90'

Defenders
Gancarczyk - (3)
Jop - DNP
Kazimierczak - DNP
Rząsa - 90'
Wasilewski - 90'
Żuraw - 90'
Mi. Żewłakow - 90'

Goalkeepers
Białkowski - 90'
Boruc - 90'
Dudek - DNP
Kowalewski - DNP
Kuszczak - DNP

Did Not Play - DNP