Poland head coach Franciszek Smuda, top left, talks to his players during the official training session yesterday. Gero Breloer/AP/Press Association Images
Euro 2012
Politics off menu for Poland as Russia match looms
“We want to win. We don’t want to lose. We’re aware we have one point and thanks to this point we still have chances.”
POLAND COACH Franciszek Smuda last night insisted that his squad were shutting themselves off from the fiercely political context surrounding their crunch Euro 2012 Group A match with Russia today.
“We’re not thinking about this. Our only focus is on the game, on football and our plans, not what will happen in the streets or on the stands,” Smuda said on the eve of this evening’s crunch meeting with the Group A favorites, who are riding high after thrashing the Czech Republic 4-1 last week in their tournament opener.
The game could decide Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland’s fate in the tournament because they only managed a 1-1 draw with Greece in their own opening game on Friday and need to get something from the Russia match to have a realistic chance of reaching the last eight.
“We want to win. We don’t want to lose. We’re aware we have one point and thanks to this point we still have chances.”
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Smuda said he would not be looking out for the result of the second-placed Greeks’ match against the Czechs earlier on Tuesday.
“Calculating is the worst thing. It’s not a matter of a draw or a defeat for the Greeks or Czechs. The Russia game is the most important,” he said.
Despite the high-pressure atmosphere, 63-year-old Smuda had time for a joke when asked to assess his rival, Russia’s Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, nine months older.
“I think he’s better-looking than 20 years ago, he looks young. He’s an experienced coach, a great coach, he achieved a lot of success and I wish him continued success. Apart from in tomorrow’s game.”
Poland and Russia’s sporting rivalry feeds into antipathy spanning the Tsarist and Soviet eras, stoked by Moscow’s resurgence under President Vladimir Putin. Polish media are urging Smuda’s young guns to stop Russia in their tracks.
The tabloid Super Express published a mock up of a sword-wielding Smuda in uniform on horseback, and called for a new “Miracle on the Vistula,” a reference to a 1920 battle in which Poland against all odds stemmed a Bolshevik Russian invasion.
The brand-new National Stadium in the Polish capital Warsaw lies on the banks of the River Vistula. Even the high-brow daily Gazeta Wyborcza joined in.
“The goal for tomorrow: stop the Russians,” it said. “It’s a battle for the result, for honour, for our place in history.”
Smuda said his players were avoiding the tub-thumping.
“We are somehow separated from the TV and the press, so that we don’t focus on this,” he explained. ”Our players are watching music channels, they don’t want to get obsessed with this atmosphere. These political issues don’t concern us directly.”
“We are more focused on the game, because we know we are playing against a great team. Russia has outstanding players, and this is what really interests us.”
Politics off menu for Poland as Russia match looms
POLAND COACH Franciszek Smuda last night insisted that his squad were shutting themselves off from the fiercely political context surrounding their crunch Euro 2012 Group A match with Russia today.
“We’re not thinking about this. Our only focus is on the game, on football and our plans, not what will happen in the streets or on the stands,” Smuda said on the eve of this evening’s crunch meeting with the Group A favorites, who are riding high after thrashing the Czech Republic 4-1 last week in their tournament opener.
The game could decide Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland’s fate in the tournament because they only managed a 1-1 draw with Greece in their own opening game on Friday and need to get something from the Russia match to have a realistic chance of reaching the last eight.
“We want to win. We don’t want to lose. We’re aware we have one point and thanks to this point we still have chances.”
Smuda said he would not be looking out for the result of the second-placed Greeks’ match against the Czechs earlier on Tuesday.
“Calculating is the worst thing. It’s not a matter of a draw or a defeat for the Greeks or Czechs. The Russia game is the most important,” he said.
Despite the high-pressure atmosphere, 63-year-old Smuda had time for a joke when asked to assess his rival, Russia’s Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, nine months older.
Poland and Russia’s sporting rivalry feeds into antipathy spanning the Tsarist and Soviet eras, stoked by Moscow’s resurgence under President Vladimir Putin. Polish media are urging Smuda’s young guns to stop Russia in their tracks.
The tabloid Super Express published a mock up of a sword-wielding Smuda in uniform on horseback, and called for a new “Miracle on the Vistula,” a reference to a 1920 battle in which Poland against all odds stemmed a Bolshevik Russian invasion.
The brand-new National Stadium in the Polish capital Warsaw lies on the banks of the River Vistula. Even the high-brow daily Gazeta Wyborcza joined in.
“The goal for tomorrow: stop the Russians,” it said. “It’s a battle for the result, for honour, for our place in history.”
Smuda said his players were avoiding the tub-thumping.
“We are somehow separated from the TV and the press, so that we don’t focus on this,” he explained. ”Our players are watching music channels, they don’t want to get obsessed with this atmosphere. These political issues don’t concern us directly.”
“We are more focused on the game, because we know we are playing against a great team. Russia has outstanding players, and this is what really interests us.”
- © AFP, 2012
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Euro 2012 FRANCISZEK Smuda Group A Poland