Euro 2012: Draw was kind for gracious co-hosts Poland

The Poles, who also have Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic in their group, have never won a game at the European Championship, writes Richard Jolly Audio interview

Poland have very few star names, but will be targeting a first-ever win at the continental championship, which starts this Friday. Leszek Szymanski/ EPA

Scroll down the list, below Costa Rica and the Cape Verde Islands, after Honduras and Haiti, past Panama and Uzbekistan and there they were: 75th.

When Fifa calculated their rankings in March, it made for particularly unpleasant reading in Warsaw, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Poznan, cities where half of Euro 2012 will be played. Poland were deemed the 75th best national team in world football.

Rarely can a host have seemed so outclassed by the guests at their own party. Because in the history of the European Championship, arguably only one weaker nation has ever staged the tournament.

They were Austria's class - although that may be an inappropriate choice of word - of 2008 who had been ranked 101st and who picked up a solitary point. It came against Poland. That draw was the only time either side avoided defeat.

Four years on, this is arguably a weaker crop of players. While they have now clambered up to 65th and while their lowly status is partly attributable to the lack of competitive internationals - as co-hosts, they qualified automatically, but friendlies carry fewer ranking points - there are 27 European nations with officially superior sides.

And yet there is hope. If Group B, containing Denmark, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands, is the group of death, Group A - with the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland and Russia - may be the group of life.

"The easiest possible one," said Zbigniew Boniek, Poland's greatest ever player. Franciszek Smuda, the coach, more cautiously called it: "A treacherous group."

But the draw has given Poland optimism. Recent results offer some encouragement, too.

They have drawn with Germany and Portugal this season and lost only one of their last 11 games. Winning, however, presents problems for a team that averages little over a goal a game over the past two years. Admittedly, two prolific Poland-born strikers are heading to Euro 2012. They are Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, with a century of goals for Germany between them.

It explains why Smuda has been casting his net wide, looking at the Polish diaspora in a bid to broaden a narrow talent pool.

"They are Poles," Smuda said, though the defender Damien Perquis and the midfielder Ludovic Obraniak were born in France and several also boast German passports. As it is, Poland will look across the border in their quest for goals.

Sole striker Robert Lewandowski has helped Borussia Dortmund win the Bundesliga in the last two seasons and represents one of twin sources of encouragement at either end of the pitch. The other is the goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

In between, however, Poland are more workmanlike than wondrous.

"Poland is not strong because of individuals but as a team," Lewandowski said. That must be the aim, that they are greater than the sum of comparatively limited parts. By way of illustration, Szczesny is the only player in the 23-man squad to ply his trade in England, Spain or Italy. Poor as the Polish league is, five are home-based.

But they have home advantage and the opportunity to create momentum. Poland begin against Greece. It is arguably their most winnable game.

"The first match is the most important," Jakub Blaszczykowski, the captain, said. "It will practically be a small final for us." Another of the Dortmund contingent, the midfielder added: "The draw was fortunate for us. With good preparation and some luck, we will be able to advance."

If they do, a side that seems among the worst in the European Championship's history may set a new standard for their country. While Poland have a proud tradition in the World Cup, where they were twice semi-finalists in their golden age of the 1970s and 1980s, they have never won a match in the continental competition.

Beating the Greeks would be a first and could send them into the uncharted territory of the quarter-finals. As well as being a significant achievement, it would catapult Poland out of obscurity when Fifa next do their sums.

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