Poland v. USMNT

For one, their GoalKeepers are second to none. That is loads of talent between the pipes, starting with the Holy Goalie for The Bhoys himself, Artur Boruc.

Dudka I have heard of as being pretty good, and the two strikers I have heard of also. Zurawski used to be with Celtic, where he did okay but was sold off this year. This will easily be Our biggest test since the World Cup. Do not expect the Polish team that we dominated before.

 

Yes ChiTom would love to hear your input. I need the lowdown since my boys best friends, both of them Polish, are coming over to watch the match. Also, any word on the US team?

When our U20 team crushed Poland in the world cup I was able to comfort these boys by the fact that Szetela is of Polish decent. I'm hoping that I will have to come up with more ways to make them feel better about another defeat.

 

You can look for Robert Warzycha and introduce them to the Polish Rifle legend. Bet he'll be up there from Cols.
His Picture

Wiki

 

Poland's best player is Ebi Smolarek. He is a similar player to Dempsey in that he can play up front or in midfield. He kind of roams and seems to have a knack for finding the ball and scoring. He was one of the big reasons why Poland qualified for the first time in the country's history for the European championships this summer.

As mentioned by FFCinPCB, Poland's keepers are solid. Englkand would kill to have the quality of keepers that Poland has. Boruc is the #1 with Kuszczak and Fabianski not far behind.

Poland does have a few players who have been on the team for quite some time that are winding down a bit. Particulalry Maciej Zurawski. He was solid in Poland's 2006 World Cup qualifying but he is getting older and not quite as strong as he was then.

Additionally, Jacek Krzynowek is a good midfielder but he is getting older as well. He still can put in a strong performance and be a big facilitator of the ball going forward for the Poles.

There are players that are starting to come into their own like Matusiak, Murawski and Lewandowski that have shown over the last year that they are more than capable of being key contributors to the team.

You will not see any of the players from this past summer's U-20 championships. We are still a few years away from the likes of Janczyk and Krol to play a part on the full national team.

As a whole you will not see a roster filled with big name stars but the team is solid and Beenhakker as a manager is excellent. He will have the team prepared and ready for the US and the European Championships this summer as well.

I will be pulling for Poland in this one. I hope this helps.

 

Thanks Tom! Normally I question those who live in one country and pull for another but when they know more about that team than I know about the US National Team...I shut up.

From your post I get the idea that these are two national teams heading in different directions. The U.S. bringing in new talent and Poland getting rid of old talent. You didn't mention anything about the defense other than the goaltending, so I wonder if the U.S. speed will give them any trouble in the final 1/3.

Thanks for the insight, do you have any predicitions on the game?

 

The defense for Poland is rather old. It is not a bad defense, but not a fantastic defense either. I would rate it as average.

It is hard to make predictions in any match let alone a friendly. I think it will be a draw though. Probably 1-1 or 0-0.

As for why I am cheering for Poland, my wife is Polish and because of that I have adopted Poland as my second country and in soccer, I would like to see Poland continue to get better. Any other time I would be for the US but not against Poland.

 

Freddy and Jozy are not in our squad. ???????????

 

According to cnnsi.com:

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Cory Gibbs (Charlton Athletic, England), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Benny Feilhaber (Derby, England), Eddie Lewis (Derby, England)

Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Eddie Johnson (Fulham, England), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich, Germany)

 

I can understand Freddie and Jozy not getting the call this time after playing in the Olympic qualifiers.

 

I would think playing in the Olympic qualifiers is exactly why they're not playing in this game.

 

am i still allowed to post on this mb after my little hiatius? I'm going to say this will be a good challenge for our boys. Isn't the Poland Manager the same guy that let T&T in the World Cup? Tom, any info on this?

 

I'm glad Chingy is in there. I hope he starts!!!!!!!!1

 

The LA Times has a story today eluding to Bradley making a deal with Benfica to not call Freddy for both the Olympic qualifiers and the Poland friendly. Makes sense. Still, I want Freddy and Jozy getting as many caps with the senior team as possible. Only 27 months til World Cup 2010....

 

ChiTom, is there any other reason than your wife is Polish? Just wondering because the Polish team will have every Pol and every Pol immigrant in the US cheering for them. In comparison, the USMNT wont have the same unanimous support from their countrymen. I want Poland to get better too but they can do that without beating the US.

After living in England and traveling in Europe and seeing the support that athletes get from their country's fans, it would take a lot for me to root against an American/American team in an international competition. We do not support our soccer, tennis, swimming, track and field, rowing, gymnastics, etc. athletes the way the rest of the world supports theirs (only talking fan support, not financial). I like to do my part and give the Americans some support. Too many people think that because there is an Olympics every four years in which we generally pull for the Americans that our athletes get fan support. This is not true in comparison to other coutries.

I'd love to hear what you think

 

Aye, the wee Texan lad is right. If Gibbs is healthy and gets back to form, consider all these other pretenders a thing of the past, especially Born-too-hyped.

 

USMNT's home turf = Portland?