EURO 2021

Poland coach Franciszek Smuda produced no surprises when he named his 23-man squad for Euro 2012 on Sunday. It was largely expected that Smuda would drop midfielder Tomasz Jodlowiec and striker Michal Kucharczyk, who had fared poorly in a friendly win against Latvia, as well as defender Kamil Glik from his provisional group of 26. “I would like to thank them because they gave it their best, they worked at full capacity and I hope they stay in contention for squads in the future,” Smuda told a news conference. On […]

Co-hosts are hoping Borussia Dortmund’s Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowsk can reproduce their club success on the international stage It is a paradox of football that the hosts of a tournament can enjoy a low profile. Attention will, of course, soar when Poland take the field against Greece in the opening match of Euro 2012, but Franciszek Smuda’s side can be pleased that they have only provided meagre information for their opponents. The same can be said of the co-hosts Ukraine, yet it is Poland who could be […]

The Czech Republic and Greece on Sunday became the first teams competing in Euro 2012 to arrive in Poland, a UEFA official said, with the opening matches in the tournament less than a week away. Both teams have been drawn with tournament co-hosts Poland and Russia in Group A, with the first matches on Friday. Poland take on Euro 2004 champions Greece in the opener in the capital Warsaw, while Russia play the Czech Republic in the southwestern city of Wroclaw. A UEFA of ficial told AFP that the Czech […]

Paolo Bento announced on Monday evening during a press conference in Obidos Portugal’s European football championships roster consisting of 23 players. The lineup does not significantly differ from that nominated by the coach to take part at the match with Poland in February. Just as before the match in the National Stadium in Warsaw, the team lacks the injured striker Danny and the defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Bosingwa, who were excluded from the team last year after a conflict with the coach. The footballers nominated by Bento are mostly foreign […]

Poland’s debut at the European Championship four years ago ended in disappointment: three games, zero wins. The Poles have shaken things up since then – they’ve hired a new coach, revamped much of the squad and uncovered a trio of players who have found success in one of Europe’s toughest leagues. As co-host of Euro 2012, Poland is hoping the changes make a difference when they take on Russia, Greece and the Czech Republic in Group A. ”It is our goal to advance from the group and I am convinced […]

Franz Beckenbauer said he believes manager Joachim Loew is in charge of the best Germany squad in the nation’s football history. The Bayern Munich legend lifted the World Cup as a player in 1974 and then as a manager in 1990, but he is of the opinion that neither group had the same strength in depth as the squad Loew is leading into Euro 2012. “We have always had a high level of quality in the national team squad,” Beckenbauer told Bild am Sonntag. “But Jogi, he now has the […]

For Polish team Euro 2012 is the most important football tournament in history. As the tournament co-hosts with Ukraine we will host the 14 best representations of the Old Continent. This will be our second start in the European Championship, the first four years ago on the fields of Austria and Switzerland we finished in the group stage with just one point gained. Now, as before four years ago, Polish players goal is a minimum to advance from the group. The task was made easier for us by the December […]

Star striker Robert Lewandowski on Friday criticised Poland coach Franciszek Smuda’s decision to axe midfielder Slawomir Peszko from the Euro 2012 co-hosts’ squad after a drink-fuelled dispute with a taxi driver. “Slawomir was fined by his club, and it should have stopped there,” Lewandowski, who has questioned Smuda’s tactical choices in the past, said in an interview with the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. “It makes no sense to have axed him from our team,” he added. Like Lewandowski, who is on course to win a second consecutive Bundesliga title with Borussia […]

With the Polish venues on track in their preparations for co-hosting Euro 2012, the lingering concern for the country’s football fans is whether they will have a national team capable of putting up a respectable performance. Coach Franciszek Smuda has seen his side fall as far as 73rd in FIFA’s admittedly farcical ranking system, with the dearth of playing talent a regular topic for the country’s footballing media. Many wonder what happened to the squad that won the European Under-18 Championship in Finland in 2001. That team included Tomasz Kuszczak, […]

Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard have not been included in Fabio Capello’s squad for England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.

England are 5/2 with bookmaker to get the point they need on Friday to qualify for the finals in Poland and Ukraine ne…