Poland back in limelight

When Poland narrowly failed to make the play-offs for the EURO 2000™ finals it seemed simply to emphasise the fact that their glory days were well behind them.

Long wait
They had never managed to make the UEFA European Championship finals and it was then well over a decade since they had last qualified for the final stages of the FIFA World Cup. The days when they had a team good enough beat Brazil and France and take third place in the World Cup finals - as they had done, respectively, in 1974 and 1982 - seemed gone forever.

Romped to World Cup
But then something amazing happened. Under a new coach, Jerzy Engel, they romped to the 2002 World Cup, so successfully they were the first European team to qualify for the finals in Korea/Japan. Indeed they only lost once in Group Five - and that was only after they had already made sure of winning the group.

Olisadebe the hero
The reason for the transformation was to be found in the person of Emmanuel Olisadebe, a Nigerian-born striker who marked his appearance on the international stage with an avalanche of goals - ten so far in his eleven games for his adopted country - after his citizenship had been rushed through in time for the World Cup qualifying campaign.

A revelation
The 23-year-old Olisadebe, who plays his club football for Panathinakos FC in Greece, has been a revelation, quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting strikers in Europe. His performances have lifted Poland out of the doldrums of international football and sent them brim full of confidence to the 2002 World Cup finals, in which they have been drawn against the Korean Republic, Portugal and the United States.

Battle with England
How Janusz Wojcik - Engel's predecessor as coach - must wish he had had an Olisadebe in his squad during his attempt to qualify for EURO 2000™. Although the Poles started that campaign with successive 3-0 wins - in Bulgaria and against Luxembourg - to go to the top of Group Five, that was followed by consecutive defeats at the hands of England (3-1) and at home to Sweden (1-0) that left Poland floundering. Despite two more victories, over Bulgaria (2-0) and in Luxembourg (3-2), it all came down to a dog-fight with an equally disappointing England for the runners-up spot - and a place in the play-offs - behind Sweden, the runaway group winners.

Despair against Sweden 
A victory at home against England in their penultimate game would have secured a play-off berth but the match ended in a sterile 0-0 draw and the Poles had to visit Sweden in their final match, knowing a point would see them through. However, despite holding the Swedes for 54 minutes, they finally lost 2-0 - the killer goal only coming in the last minute as the Poles pushed forward in the hunt for the all-important equaliser.

Turning point
Engel's reign in charge started rather disappointingly and Poland ended their build-up to the World Cup qualifying campaign without a win in six friendlies, losing three (against Spain, France and the Netherlands) and drawing the others (against Hungary, Finland and Romania). The 1-1 draw in Romania was, however, the turning point for the Poles with Olisadebe making his international debut - and scoring.

Potentially difficult
There was no stopping him - or Poland - after that. Their first World Cup qualifying match in Group Five was a potentially difficult encounter in Ukraine but a goal after just two minutes by Olisadebe and another half-an-hour later put the Poles on course to an impressive 3-1 win. With Radoslaw Kaluzny going one better by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-1 win against Belarus the Poles were looking a transformed team.

Not easy
However, it was not all plain sailing and with Olisadebe nursing bruised ribs on the bench Wales did well to hold Poland to a goalless draw in Warsaw. That was just a minor hiccup, though, as the Poles raced towards qualification with three wins in a row - 3-2 in Norway (Olisadebe netting twice), 4-0 against Armenia (one more for Olisadebe) and 2-1 in Wales (Olisadebe putting the Poles on their way by grabbing the equaliser).

Hard work done
The next match was an ill-tempered 1-1 draw in Armenia in which four players - including Poland's Jacek Bak - were sent off, three following a mass brawl three minutes from time. Olisadebe missed that match but was back - and scoring again - in the 3-0 win against Norway that sealed qualification for the Poles' first World Cup since 1986 with two matches still remaining. The hard work done, the Poles then slipped to a 4-1 defeat in Belarus and were held to a 1-1 draw in Warsaw by Ukraine, the Polish goal coming from, not surprisingly, Olisadebe.

Olisadebe draws a blank
The Poles' build-up to the finals in Korea/Japan started in November 2001 with a disappointing goalless draw against Cameroon. It was only the third game for Poland that Olisadebe had failed to score in. Engel will hoping there are not too many more.