Scoreboard Saturday LIVE

Follow the days Polish Ekstraklasa games on The Soca Soul blog live!

And the Ekstraklasa is well on its way

Today is the first day back for the Polish Ekstraklasa after the long 3-month winter break. Only two games on the schedule today, the derby of Warsaw – Polonia vs. Legia and Wisla Krakow visiting Polonia Bytom.

The Great Derby of Silesia

One of Poland’s biggest and longest rivalries is renewed this Saturday afternoon, when Gornik Zabrze and Ruch Chorzow meet for the 92nd time in league play at Slaski Stadium in Chorzow. Gornik leads the all-time series with 36 wins, 24 defeats and 31 draws. The two Polish giants have also met 13 times in Puchar Polish (Polish Cup), five wins for Gornik, five for Ruch and three draws. While two of the five Gornik wins came in the final. Four of the five for Ruch were in the Final. The Ruch Chorzow vs. Gornik Zabrze derby is one of the most important matches of the season, not only in Silesia, but in all of Poland. Both clubs have an amazing history of legendary players, great fan support and results on the pitch. Both clubs share the record total of 14 League Championships. Zabrze has also won six League Cups while Chorzow has won three.

Brozek should think twice about joining West Ham United

Pawel Brozek has finally become what many have always expected out of him for years. The 25 year old Wisla Krakow striker has been a hot topic of late, not only because of his play, but also rumors surrounding him with a move to a bigger European club. Brozek has been a scoring machine the last two seasons. In 2007/08 season, Brozek led the Polish Ekstraklasa with 23 goals. And currently, at the winter break, Brozek leads all goal scorers again, with 12. Brozek had a remarkable scoring record in 2008, playing a total of 30 games and scored 19 goals. Including 5 caps with the National team and 2 goals, against the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

Enough with Wichniarek. Enough with the past. Enough with Leo!

Earlier this week, Poland’s head coach Leo Beenhakker said he is still considering striker Artur Wichniarek for  National team callup. Yes, the “big mouth” of Polish football is still on Leo’s radar. Remember, Wichniarek called Leo an “idiot” in a interview with Sport Bild after he was omitted from the Euro Cup squad. He was upset because despite scoring at least 10 goals two seasons in a row he was not considered useful by the coaching staff. Yet, this is the same King Arthur who criticized Jerzy Engel in 2002 after he was not call-up for the games in Japan and South Korea.

And so it begins….

Since this is my first entry on the “Soca Soul”, i provide you with some information about myself and why i am qualified to write a blog exclusively on Polish football.