Apparently Polish players don't read this blog (after all, most of them don't speak English) as they didn't listen to my plea voiced in the last note. This game was a very harmful experience. Who would have thought that a goalkeeper can be your best player in a game against San Marino. Everything is possible in football, especially in Polish football.

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1. Grup
21:15 İsveç - Macaristan
21:45 Arnavutluk - Malta
22:45 Portekiz - Danimarka
2. Grup
20:30 Moldova - İsrail
21:15 Letonya - Yunanistan
21:30 İsviçre - Lüksemburg
3. Grup

21:30 San Marino - Polonya
21:45 K. Click to continue reading...

I hate these kind of games because you can't gain anything from them. First of all, this is a match that we really MUST win, San Marino is the weakest team in Europe. Secondly, in order not to be criticised we must win by a large margin. Thirdly, if we don't score in the first half then we're in for a lot of nerves as San Marino will play ten behind the ball.

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Everyone says that international football isn't like it used to be, that we can't expect to rock up and beat these smaller nations 7-0 any more.  And perhaps that's right.   But somehow Germany still have that knack.  And we don't. Here are some results, all 21st century: 2007:  beat San Marino 7-0 2006:  beat San Marino 13-0 2006: beat [. Click to continue reading...

A couple Polish guys did and got kicked off the national team.

I don't know much about Poland national team, but I'm guessing with World Cup qualifiers on the schedule, it needs all the players it can get.

But sometimes guys just have to party. As these three did. With some journos at a hotel. Click to continue reading...

Leo Beenhakker presented today a list of players that will compete for Poland in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and San Marino. As expected, Artur Boruc, Dariusz Dudka and Radoslaw Majewski were not included after their alcohol adventures in Ukraine. The biggest news is the call up for the Polish league's top goalscorer Pawel Brozek.

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Not the sort of emotions I expected from the friendly against Ukraine. Artur Boruc, Dariusz Dudka and Radoslaw Majewski are banned from the team as a result of late night drinking after the game. They won't play in our World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and San Marino.

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The 2008/09 UEFA Champions League has begun.

The big boys will get the ball rolling in September, but in the heat of the summer the first qualifying round has begun. Ten matches took place last night, with another four scheduled for tonight.

For many, this stage of the competition may be tedious -- who cares about the Maltese champion! Click to continue reading...

So yeah, we're headed to the airport in a couple hours. I figured I'd try to scramble some stuff into a mess post since it'll be a while 'til I arrive.

I think it's over 24 hours from departure to arrival with all the transfers and layovers. Bah.

Anyways, I've embeded a couple soccer featurettes from ESPN and sandwiched some links in between. Click to continue reading...

When one thinks of footballing in the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, the Champions League doesn't exactly come to mind. More often it's as the recipient of a thorough beatdown - particularly for Germans - or as the cutsie little nation in those adidas commercials featuring Jose Mourinho & Friends. Click to continue reading...

A lot of commentators here in England think that some of the very much smaller European nations (San Marino, Lichtenstein, etc.) should not even be able to take part in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 World Cup football finals. They think there should be a separate qualifying tournament for these countries and only the winners should be allowed to compete in the World Cup qualifiers proper. Click to continue reading...

Earlier today it looked as if it would be up to the Ireland Rugby Union Team at the World Cup tomorrow to salvage the weekend for the Irish, but in the end they could have gotten off much worse. First, Northern Ireland lost on the road at Latvia 1-0, thanks to an own goal by Chris Baird. Then just as it seemed Ireland was going to get the three points on the road against Slovakia, a goal by Marek Čech in injury time equalized the sides at two apiece. Click to continue reading...

San Marino vs. Czech Republic, 1315 EST
Olimpico - Serravalle

San Marino has a grand total of zero points and a goal difference of -36 in the group. In other words, it's 'pad the stats' time for Jan Koller, Milan Baroš, Tomáš Rosický, and Stanislav Vlček. I'm surprised Pavel Nedvěd didn't come out of retirement for this one. With Petr Čech or even Martin Vaniak in goal and Marek Jankulovski, Tomáš Ujfaluši, and David Rozehnal among others in front of one of them, San Marino has absolutely no chance of scoring here. Click to continue reading...