Poland Arrives In Korea

(Friday, May 24, 2002) - MLSnet.com spoke to Chicago Fire Polish radio play-by-play man Jacek Zielinski of Polskie Radio WNVR 1030AM, one of the leading Polish radio outlets in the country. He gave us the latest update on the Americans' Group D opponents at the 2002 World Cup.

You can listen to Jacek Zielinski and his colleague and overseas reporter Leszek Dorosz on the top Polish radio station in the United States www.polskieradio.com.

Jacek Zielinski: The team arrived in South Korea on Thursday around 9:00 a.m. ET via the president's airplane. It took them about 12 hours to get from Warsaw to South Korea. They had a one-hour stop in Russia. When they got to South Korea there were about 5000 supporters, many wearing Polish shirts and singing Polish songs. Only a few of the fans were actually Polish, however. The majority were South Koreans.

After that the team commuted to its camp headquarters (in Daejeon). The team immediately ate dinner and went to sleep, all in the process of adjusting to the time difference.

On Wednesday Poland had a send-off party for players, coaches, some journalists and some of the sponsors. I spoke to somebody who worked there and he said it was a real nice event. Many players brought over their wife and children. Many of them brought along their video recorders. The event was organized by one of the team sponsors. Before that, the squad was at the president's palace to receive the send-off from the President.

MLSnet.com: What's the atmosphere surrounding the team as it heads to Korea?

Eight goals during qualifying by Emmanuel Olisadebe led the Poland run to the World Cup.

Jacek Zielinski: All the players and coaches never say anything negative. They are saying that the friendly losses to Japan and Romania were insignificant. Although they played really poorly against Estonia (1-0 win last Saturday) the players and coaches also say that was nothing but a friendly match before the real tournament. They continue to stress that the most important thing is the first game against South Korea on June 4.

For the reporters, however, it's the opposite. It's funny - in December, after the group draw, everyone was confident we were going to the second round. When we saw we were playing South Korea, the U.S. and Portugal, things were looking nice in December. Supporters and reporters were sure that Poland would make it to the second round. But right now the country is concerned that we're not going to even get a point in Group D. That's what the public says. Between the players and coaches compared to the reporters and public opinion - that's two different worlds.

MLSnet.com: Head Coach Jerzy Engel experimented with his side in the matches against Romania and Japan. Was there any more experimenting against Estonia last weekend?

Jacek Zielinski: After World Cup Qualifying, when Poland locked up its place in Korea/Japan Engel didn't make any changes. Some critics said that after we advanced to the World Cup the only thing Coach Engel did was promotional work instead of working with the team. So Engel selected those same players and he is confident that he is going through with the same players and same tactics.

MLSnet.com: But he kept Tomasz Iwan off the team and he also tried playing a three-man back line against Romania. Did he do anything out of the ordinary against Estonia?

Midfielder Tomasz Iwan was a regular during Qualifying but was left off the World Cup team.

Jacek Zielinski: No, nothing. Even before the game Coach Engel said that the match was just a friendly game to say goodbye to the supporters. For Poland, that game meant nothing.

MLSnet.com: Give us a typical starting 11. Obviously Bartosz Karwan is out injured on the right side of midfield.

Jacek Zielinski: We think Engel is going to go with Jerzy Dudek in goal. Tomasz Waldoch and Tomasz Hajto will be the central defenders with Michal Zewlakow at left back and Tomasz Klos on the right side. Then you're going to have the playmaker Piotr Swierczewski in the middle and Radoslaw Kaluzny, who is more defensively oriented in the middle.

Marek Kozminski will play on the left side of midifeld and Jacek Krzynowek will play the right for Karwan, despite the left-footed backup to Kozminski. Emmanuel Olisadebe and Pawel Kryszalowicz will be the forward tandem up front. It doesn't matter that Maciej Zurawski scored the goal. It's going to be Olisadebe and Kryszalowicz. If there are any substitutions to be made, the first one on the field will be the other Zewlakow - Marcin, the forward of the Zewlakow twins on the team. Kryszalowicz has looked very good recently but we still don't know what's going to happen with Olisadebe. Nobody knows. He didn't get much playing time this year with Panathinaikos (his club team in Greece).

MLSnet.com: How did Olisadebe look against Estonia?

Pawel Kryszalowicz will partner Emmanuel Olisadebe up top for Poland.

Jacek Zielinski: He did not look sharp at all. For Olisadebe, his playing mood is very important. But Engel used to coach him. He's the guy who discovered him when he was coaching Polonia Warsaw (Polish club team). If there's anyone who knows Olisadebe, it's Engel. He's the one who decided to acquire him for Polonia Warsaw and talk to the president to get him citizenship. Their relationship is like a father-son relationship. Engel knows what he has to do to put Olisadebe in a good mood.

MLSnet.com: So Krzynowek takes the place of Karwan you say?

Jacek Zielinski: Krzynowek is a natural left-sided player. In the game against Estonia, however, he played the first half on the right side. It wasn't good for him. He was trying to converge to the middle to use his left leg. We have problems to find someone to replace Karwan on the right side.

MLSnet.com: Was Krzynowek an experiment against Estonia?

Jacek Zielinski: Engel is trying him on the right side to see if he can play over there. Both Krzynowek and Tomasz Rzasa (of Feyenoord) are left-sided players so it makes no difference who starts between them. Krzynowek played there during qualifying and Engel likes to stick with the guys who got him in South Korea. Karwan had only become a regular at the end of qualification at which point Engel was 100 percent sure that he would start him on the right side at the World Cup. Then Karwan got injured.

On the right side he has been trying different players - Iwan, Karwan and Krzynowek. But it was Krzynowek who mostly played on the left side. So now Engel is basically trying to pull someone from the left side to play on the right side. The right midfield spot is a problem for Poland. Krzynowek is really good on the left side. He can play up front too. He's a hard working player. He was also a regualr starter with his club team in the Bundesliga (Nurnberg ... teammate of Tony Sanneh).

Jerzy Dudek is the star of the Polish National Team for his play with Liverpool in England.

MLSnet.com: So Rzasa from Feyenoord does not have a chance to start?

Jacek Zielinski: Many people are pushing for it but so far Engel has denied him. Rzasa is a regular for Feyenoord and they won the UEFA Cup. But Engel has his players and doesn't think Rzasa is the best option. Engel hates changes. I don't think Rzasa will be in the starting 11 although everyone will say he's supposed to be there on the left side, either in midfield or on defense.

MLSnet.com: Any big controversies on the horizon?

Jacek Zielinski: When it was time to make selections on the team there was some controversy. Artur Wichniarek from Arminia Beilefeld, who earned the scoring crown in the German second division for the second year in a row. Everyone has been trying to get him on the team except for Engel. When he made his decision not to take him, after that all the clamor stopped. Now we're just waiting for the game against South Korea on June 4.

Poland's Group D schedule:

June 4 - Poland vs. South Korea (7:25 a.m. ET on ESPN2)
June 10 - Poland vs. Portugal (7:25 a.m. ET on ESPN2)
June 14 - USA vs. Poland (7:25 a.m. ET on ESPN)