The Irek Jelen Show

If you have not seen Jelen’s goal against Le Mans, you should do so. The video is below.  What you’ll see (if you’ll share my point of view of course) is nice technique, flair and composure (and a nice assist by Dariusz Dudka too!). Some of you might remember Irek’s performances at World Cup 2006 in Germany. He was, next to Boruc, our only player who represented Poland proudly enough to deserve call ups in future. Instead, he was somewhat forgotten and pushed to sit in the shade. Undeservedly in my humble opinion.

Ekstraklasa Round 20 wrap-up

This week can be described easily by just one word: Upsets. The upsets started Friday, with Polonia Warsaw and Legia Warsaw both losing. Polonia lost 3-1 to LKS Lodz, while Legia lost 2-1 to Jagiellonia. Upsets continued on Saturday, as Wisla Krakow tried to get a win and jump over both Warsaw clubs into second place, but was unable to score at GKS Belchatow and tied 0-0 in a game where Wisla star Pawel Brozek left on a stretcher after colliding with Belchatow’s goalkeeper Lukasz Sapela. The upsets didn’t stop there, on Sunday, Gornik Zabrze shocked Lech Poznan and tied the first place team 1-1. Lech tried to get a very solid lead on the standings but couldn’t score on the last place Zabrze side until the 92nd minute, when a own-goal by Pawel Strak cost the home side a full-3 points.

Reymonta – no longer a fortress?

Kuba - early days at Wisla Krakow

My, my… I remember times of Henryk Kasperczak, when Wisla Krakow was a heavyweight champion of Polish Ekstraklasa. The teams feared to compete on their ground, as it was a stronghold nearly impossible to capture. Teams that achieved draw were celebrating a success. Only Legia, if I rack my memory well enough, was able to compete at champion’s territory. Even though, a draw was all they could achieve most of the time.

Wisla Krakow are still Champions of Poland, but I feel that times when the Reymonta Stadium was a symbol of glory are now gone. Some of you might remember a sensational 2-4 loss against GKS Belchatow in season 06/07. It was spoken of by the media for a long time as a moment, when spell of Reymonta was broken. And it seems they were right. Since then, I believe, the fear of playing away at Wisla’s turf is gone.

Ekstraklasa Round 18 Review

Round 18 is officially over, and the Polish Ekstraklasa is under way. The weekend featured two big derbies in Polish football, a 0-0 match between Polonia Warsaw and Legia Warsaw, and a 1-0 victory for Gornik Zabrze over Ruch Chorzow. A confident Lech Poznan team, over came a heart breaking end to their UEFA Cup run last Thursday after a 2-1 loss to Udinese, with a 3-2 victory over GKS Belchatow on Sunday. Poznan now sit in first place, 2-points clear of their closest competitor, Legia Warsaw. Here’s some of the best, and worst, from around the Ekstraklasa from the weekend.

Scoreboard Saturday LIVE

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Media crack Leo, Boruc come home?

So here we have it, after much abuse from the media, the old Dutchman finally cracked. A recent article tells us about a comment by a Polish reporter about Leo that he didn’t approve of very well; so its time to sue! I don’t blame him, I myself find it crazy how the Polish media has been recklessly attacking Beenhakker like mad ever since EURO 2008. It’s like they have nothing else to do or think about, just what new bashing should they come up about him, because the NT has been playing so awfully. Hey, here is a thought…