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08.09.04, 10:50
England take on Poland in Chorzow on Wednesday in desperate need of a win
after succumbing to a 2-2 draw against Austria at the weekend.
In contrast, the Poles enjoyed a bright start to their qualifying campaign
with a 3-0 trouncing of Northern Ireland.
We take a closer look at Poland ahead of the World Cup qualifier and find out
about their footballing past and future prospects.
COACH - PAWEL JANAS
The 51-year-old made his mark as a Polish international, winning 53 caps for
his country in a career which started against Argentina in 1976.
Undoubtedly his career high came at the 1982 World Cup where he was part of
the Poland team that finished third.
As a club player, his highlight came in the French league and was named
France's top foreign player in the 1986 season.
Penas took over as national coach at the end of 2002 after earlier spells
with Legia Warsaw and the Olympic team.
STAR PERFORMER - JERZY DUDEK
Dudek is the biggest name in the Polish starting line-up, due more to his
club performances with Liverpool than with the Poland national set-up.
He first came to the public attention in the Dutch league for Feyenoord
before then Liverpool coach Gerard Houllier brought him to the Premiership.
In his first season, he kept a total of 26 clean sheets and has continued to
keep Chris Kirkland, a long-term candidate for the England number one shirt,
out of Liverpool's first team.
The bearded Pole is renowned as one of Europe's top shot-stoppers - rarely
fazed and always bold in the challenge.
FOOTBALLING LEGENDS
Poland have a few contenders for that crown but the two front-runners are
Grzegorz Lato and Zbigniew Boniek.
Lato made a total of 95 international appearances in the 70s and 80s, the
winger scoring 42 goals in the process and winning the golden boot at the
1974 World Cup with his seven goals.
But in terms of Poland's greatest player of all time, Boniek marginally gets
the nod.
His first World Cup appearance came at the 1978 tournament, but it was four
years later in Spain where he came to global attention.
He was the central force in a team that finished third, his classic moment
coming against Belgium when he scored a hat-trick.
At club level, he won the league and cup for Juventus in Serie A as well as
the European Cup in 1985 and the European Cup Winners' Cup the previous year.
He was nicknamed "Night Beauty" at the club after producing his best
performances in evening matches.
HOW THEY RATE
As it stands in the current Fifa world rankings, Poland are 29th. That leaves
them six places below South Korea and two behind Saudi Arabia.
In their most recent international, they eased past Northern Ireland 3-0.
Maciej Zurawski, Piotr Wlodarczyk and Jacek Krzynowek all scored for the
Poles.
But they missed out on qualifying for Euro 2004 after falling foul of both
Sweden and Latvia in group four.
DISPLAYS AGAINST ENGLAND
England and Poland have met 15 times in their history. To date, England have
eight wins and Poland one - back in 1973 - while there has been a total of
six draws between the two sides.
They last met at Warsaw qualifying for Euro 2000, a game which ended in a 0-0
draw.
The biggest winning margin, however, belongs to England, who have twice won 3-
0 including at the 1986 World Cup when Gary Lineker scored a hat-trick.
