Robert Lewandowski – World Player of the Week

Goal Machine

The editors of Goal.com, comprising journalists from around the world, regularly choose the world’s best footballer of the week. This time Robert Lewandowski is this weeks’ winner after his incredible performance in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. “It was an absolutely extraordinary week for Robert Lewandowski. His performance is one of the greatest individual performances in Champions League history,” according to Goal.com. Last Wednesday ‘Lewa’ scored four goals giving Borussia Dortmund victory against Real Madrid at Signal Iduna Park (Westfalenstadion), thereby becoming the first player to score four goals against the ‘kings’ of European football. “Not only has Lewandowski proved to have the instincts of a killer, but he also demonstrated his great technical skills. The third goal was unbelievable. No one can doubt his world-class abilities,” according to Goal.com. The journalists emphasise that ‘Lewa’ is already being chased by Europe’s leading football clubs. “Bayern Munich and Manchester United both want him. However, his price has rocketed in the last few days thanks to his performance at Signal Iduna Park which will be part of football folklore for years to come.” Not only that but Borussia together with Lewandowski will be in the Champions League final on the 25th May at Wembley.
Interia.pl

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Victory of Polish Patriotism

Smuda to Blame?

Poland’s football players did not live up to the nation’s expectations. However, journalist Dominik Zdort regards Euro 2012 “a splendid time for patriotic emotions.” The Rzeczpospolita journalist said on TOK FM radio that, “I have watched masses of Poles in white-and-red T-shirts with pleasure. It’s a positive awakening.” He added, “Such excitement is necessary for the country to feel a certain togetherness.” It is interesting that Dominik Zdort does not belong to the group of journalists heavily criticising Polish manager Franciszek Smuda. He stated, “I like this young team. I would not dismiss coach Smuda either, even though he made mistakes in  tactics.” Being a political journalist, Zdort could not resist adding a political twist: “This national team is politically pluralistic. There were hints that Robert Lewandowski is a Civic Platform (PO) supporter and Kuba Błaszczykowski is pro Law and Justice (PiS), but they managed to play together very well.” According to the Rzeczpospolita journalist, Franciszek Smuda and PM Donald Tusk are alike with regard to their… reluctance to make changes. Also, Marek Zając from TVP (Polish TV) shares the opinion that Euro 2012 is a chance for Poles to demonstrate their patriotism. However, he has does not agree with Zdort with regards to the team. “We lost mentally. I blame the manager, Franciszek Smuda, who was supposed to motivate his team to fight from the beginning right until the end.” He added, “Remember how Smuda announced before the Greece match that if the game was looking like finishing a draw he would not throw players on to attack. Before the Russia game Smuda said that he would be satisfied with a draw. It now looks like this drawing attitude, and not playing for a win, backfired on Smuda.”

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Portuguese View of Euro

Nani Attacked

According to Portuguese and other international media, and despite negative publicity, the atmosphere accompanying Euro 2102 seems to be extremely friendly. Despite yesterday’s ugly scenes in Warsaw, foreign hooligans (rather than home-grown ones) seem to be causing the main problems. Record, Portugal’s most famous sports magazine, noted that Sunday’s scuffles between Croatian and Irish football fans ruined the whole event for many who made the journey to Poznań. It appeared that hooligans from both countries decided to confront each other even before the match started. Unfortunately, this had absolutely nothing to do with real sport. When summing up the first several days of Euro 2012, SIC Noticias mentioned the aggressive attitude of Russian fans toward security guards who were attacked in the Wrocław stadium, and as a result had to be taken to hospital. However, this incident was not the only one which drew international media attention. Other than the fighting in Warsaw, the Lisbon media reported, long before the start of the game between Russia and the Czech Republic, that  Russian supporters had decided to stir up trouble in one of Wrocław’s local bars. They were stopped by the police. However, as well as Russian fans, a small section of German fans caused embarrassment to themselves, when in Lvov, they were caught singing racist songs, setting fire to stadium seats, as well as making monkey chants every time Nani, the Portuguese football player born in Africa, had the ball.
wp.pl

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Under UEFA Rule

Ironic, isn't it?

“In June, Poland will lose part of its sovereignty to UEFA in connection with Euro 2012,” according to Polityka. From 2005 Polish authorities have signed approximately 30 guarantees with UEFA, which, besides obligations to build stadia, sports centres and hotels also include guarantees to sell TV licenses and commercials, employ commercial areas in cities and even block TV broadcasts of matches in pubs and restaurants. “Some of the signed documents involve legal and financial guarantees, and by signing them Poland is obliged to change tax law, intellectual property rights, and public procurement regulations. All of these are being implemented to protect the economic interests of UEFA,” continues Polityka. Even though the tournament will be held in Poland and Ukraine, with both countries providing the necessary infrastructure, UEFA remains the sole organiser and can expect to make as much as €2.3 billion, including a €116 million net profit. Polityka also informs its readers that one of the major problems in the collaboration with the football organisation is its desire to create a monopoly especially over the sale of licenses. To illustrate, the organisation wants to sell TV rights, and even has a final say as to the conditions in regard to blocks of commercials accompanying the broadcasts. “The most visible ‘sign of UEFA domination over Poland’ will be in public areas, which will be filled with sponsors’ ads,” adds Polityka. Thanks to these guarantees, UEFA may also profit on match broadcasts in pubs and restaurants. According to the regulations, these broadcasts will be allowed only after the purchase of special licenses from the organisation (at a cost of between €35 and €65 per match). Even though the guarantees are restrictive, Poland has managed to re-negotiate some of them. Poland has managed to negotiate from UEFA a guarantee that the organisation will finance part of the costs of the installation of fan zones.
Onet.pl

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Lech Poznań To Face Man City

Game Over Already?

Before the Europa League draw, hopes were high for fans of Lech Poznań (nicknamed Kolejorz, pol. ‘The Railwaymen’). The Polish champions, who only just scraped past Dnipro Dniepropietrovsk (1-0 on aggregate) in the previous round, were hoping for an easy draw and the chance to go as far as possible in the UEFA Europa League. However, after the draw, the bubble appears to have burst for Kolejorz fans. Lech Poznań has been drawn against Italian giants Juventus, Austrian Salzburg and the richest club in the world, big-spending Manchester City. The full draw is as follows:

Group A
Juventus; Manchester City; Salzburg; LECH POZNAŃ

Group B
Atletico Madrid; Bayer Leverkusen; Rosenburg; Thessaloniki

Group C
Sporting; Lille; Levski Sofia; Gent

Group D
Villarreal; Club Brugge; Dinamo Zagreb; PAOK

Group E
Alkmaar; Dinamo Kiev; BATE Borisov; FC Sheriff;

Group F
CSKA Moscow; Palermo; Sparta Prague; Lausanne

Group G
Zenit St Petersburg; Anderlecht; AEK Athens; Hajduk Split

Group H
Stuttgart; Getafe; Odense; Young Boys

Group I
PSV Eindhoven; Sampdoria; FC Metalist Kharkiv; Debreceni

Group J
Sevilla; PSG; Borussia Dortmund; Karpaty Lviv

Group K
Liverpool; Steaua Bucharest; Napoli; Utrecht

Group L
Porto; Besiktas; CSKA Sofia; Rapid Vienna

Gazeta Wyborcza

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Lech Poznań: Champions of Poland

Champions of Poland

After beating Zagłębie Lubin 2:0, Lech Poznań sealed their sixth Polish championship. ‘Kolejorz’ (The Railwaymen) regained the Polish ‘Ekstraklasa’ (Premiership) for the first time in seventeen years. The celebrations started after the final whistle. The team cracked open the champagne and were driven in an open-top bus to Poznań’s Old Town where the celebrations continued. The last time Lech Poznań’s fans had the opportunity to celebrate their team’s success was in 2004 when Lech won the Polish Cup. On Sunday, the team will travel to the capital to receive their winners’ medals.
Wirtualna Polska

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Al-Qaeda Planned To Attack Poland

Thwarting Bin Laden

Al-Qaeda was planning a terrorist attack in Poland, but the Polish intelligence agencies thwarted the plan, we learn from Angora magazine. According to Angora’s journalists the secret operation (codename “Stand”) was carried out by the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and the Foreign Intelligence Agency (AW) in cooperation with the CIA and the German secret service. The operation began in 2005 when American intelligence agencies informed the Polish authorities about a possible Al-Qaeda terrorist attack in Poland during a large event. However, when Poland and Ukraine won the battle to organise Euro 2012, terrorists postponed their attack until the tournament. Several explosives were supposed to be planted in the structure of a renovated football stadium and detonated during one of the Euro 2012 matches, but the Polish intelligence services learnt of these plans and kept the terrorists under strict surveillance. They were then allowed to plant their bombs in the stadium after which Polish bomb disposal units found and secured the explosives, which were later detonated in a training ground in Kazuń.
Onet.pl

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Logo of Euro 2012

Creating History Together

The new logo of Euro 2012 is a green sprig with three flowers  in red, yellow and blue representing the two host nations. The middle flower, which  is the biggest, resembles a football. The new logo of Euro 2012 was presented in Kiev. “It looks like a goal keeper, who is falling down or the tentacles of an octopus,” joked Henryk Sawka, the logo designer. The logo was unveiled at Michajłowski Square in the centre of Kiev by the President of UEFA. He was accompanied by Grzegorz Lato, President of the Polish Football Association (PZPN), and Hrihorij Surkis, President of the Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU). The slogan of Euro 2012, which was also presented is not the most sophisticated but is both simple and clear. It reads as follows: “Creating History Together”. The three-colour logo of the football championships includes elements of Polish and Ukrainian folk art and the whole logo looks like a folk cut-out, much like the paper-cutting art of the rural areas of Poland and Ukraine.
Dziennik

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Smuda Falls At First Hurdle

The pitch was terrible, the Polish players even worse, according to most fans watching the game. The Polish football team lost, yet again, this time to Romania 0:1 at home. Franciszek Smuda, former manager of Zagłębia Lubin, Lech Poznań, Wisła Kraków, Legia Warsaw and Widzew Łódź took charge of his first game as manager of the Polish national team. The man, hailed as the new saviour of the Polish football team, did little to inspire a team lacking quality and energy. Expectations are high, surprisingly, after predecessor Leo Beenhakker’s failed qualification campaign for the World Cup in South Africa.    
Wirtualna Polska

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Czech Republic vs. Poland

Czechs vs. Poles

On Friday the Polish football team landed in Prague and will face the Czech football team. “Everyone is in a good mood and has high hopes for victory. If one strongly believes in what he is doing, everything can happen,” said the manager of the Polish football team, Stefan Majewski. He added that the only thing he was not sure about was the lineup of the team, but after Friday’s training  session everything was clear. “I’ve already chosen 10 players but I am not sure what to do with the defence,” said Majewski and added that he wants to play with two strikers. The manger revealed that he does not have any doubts who will be the goalkeeper in the match. Mariusz Lewandowski who is captain can be sure about his position in the team. The injured Marcin Wasilewski, Michał Żewłakow and Artur Boruc will not play in the match. “The defenders are playing better now. The last training  session showed us that the team is more integrated and organised,” said Lewandowski. Polish and Czech journalists as well as autograph-hunters were waiting for the Polish footballers at the airport in Prague. The Polish team was pleasantly surprised by the professionalism of the Czech fans (who had pictures of the Polish footballers in special books) so they eagerly gave them their signatures. Unfortunately, they were less willing to talk to the media. Jerzy Dudek, who plays for Real Madrid, said “we will talk to you later.”
Dziennik

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