EURO 2008 Preview: Poland | The Blog of the World's Sport

Today in the 9th of 16 blogs I will look at Poland, who are a very underrated side.

On June 8, the Poles will play their first match against rival Germany at the Worthersee Stadion. This match will prove to be very important for the Poles. If the Poles can pull off a win, they have all the confidence in the world going into the next two matches. But even with a loss, the Poles won't be out of it or really get down. The Poles aren't expected to do much, so really they don't have any pressure on them. And in recent years, who seems to always do well? Those teams that don't have pressure are some of the teams that usually somehow sneak through in the Euros. Much like Greece was last time, the Poles are dangerous and people are counting them out and that might be the biggest weapon in the arsenal right now.

Strength- This Poland team is really starting to blossom out to the best leagues of Europe, and two of there players are the players I believe will be the strong point of the team. Strikers Maciej Zurawski (Larissa FC) and Euzebiusz Smolarek (Racing Santander) are two players that know how to finish on the international stage. These two usually bring the side up when the rest are playing badly, and hopefully they will be able to score some goals and contend. If these don't score, I don't know who will.

Weakness- Defence is a huge - for this team. If any of you saw the United States play them about two months ago, you know what I'm talking about. The U.S. scored 3 goals against what looked to me like a lackluster defence. Heck they didn't even give my player to watch a chance to make the difference.

Player to Watch- The man to watch, especially in the Germany game, is Artur Boruc. The goalkeeper will have to play like he's never played before to really give them a chance. But if he plays well, like he can, they can make a run to the final just like Greece.

Prediction- Even though they could make a run and look a lot like the 2004 Greek team, I still see them coming in third in Group B.

Once again, thanks. Tomorrow, I'll look at Portugal. Until next time, it's been Keeper and I'm out.

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May 28, 2008 01:38 PM ET

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Poland is similar to the USA in that they have produced top-notched goalkeepers recently (Boruc, Kuschack, Fabaianski).

I'm really looking forward to the Germany-Poland game, they produced a thriller in 2006