Dudek dropped from Poland party

Leo Beenhakker has finalised Poland's squad for the forthcoming UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Portugal, shaving four names off an original party of 27 with Liverpool FC goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek the most high-profile casualty.

Rasiak returns
Yet to make an appearance in the English Premiership this season, Dudek is considered too short of match practice to be considered for the fixtures against Kazakhstan in Almaty on 7 October and Portugal in Chorzow four days later. It will be a bitter blow for the 33-year-old, who started Poland's opening Group A match against Finland last month – a 3-1 defeat. Michał Żewłakow, Piotr Giza and Krzysztof Łągiewka also drop out of the reckoning but there is better news for in-form Southampton FC striker Grzegorz Rasiak who has returned to the squad after an impressive start to the campaign.

Poland squad
Goalkeepers: Wojciech Kowalewski (FC Spartak Moskva), Artur Boruc (Celtic FC), Mariusz Pawełek (Wisła Kraków)

Defenders: Mariusz Jop (FK Moskva), Jacek Bąk (Al-Rayyan), Paweł Golański (Korona Kielce), Marcin Wasilewski (Lech Poznań), Grzegorz Bronowicki (Legia Warszawa), Arkadiusz Głowacki (Wisła Kraków)

Midfielders: Radosław Sobolewski (Wisła Kraków), Mariusz Lewandowski (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Arkadiusz Radomski (FK Austria Wien), Euzebiusz Smolarek (BV Borussia Dortmund), Jacek Krzynówek (VfL Wolfsburg), Jakub Błaszczykowski (Wisła Kraków), Łukasz Garguła (GKS Bełchatów), Przemysław Kaźmierczak (Boavista FC) Rafał Grzelak (Boavista FC)

Forwards: Tomasz Frankowski (CD Tenerife), Maciej Żurawski (Celtic FC), Ireneusz Jeleń (AJ Auxerre), Radosław Matusiak (GKS Bełchatów), Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton FC)