Poland eye strong start

Poland midfielder Eugen Polanski believes a fast start to the European Championships against Greece is vital for his under-rated side.

Coming into the tournament, Poland may be one of the host nations, but with a FIFA ranking of number 65 in the world, they are a long way behind their Group A opponents Russia (world number 11), Greece (14) and Czech Republic (26).

Although Greece won the 2004 European Championships, Group A is without all the major favourites for this year’s competition in Spain, Germany, France and Italy.

And, with such an open group, 26-year-old Mainz midfielder Polanski believes getting a fast start may just be enough to take his side through to the quarter-finals.

“It’s important to win the first game and start the tournament with three points,” Polanski said.

“Once we achieve this, we will focus on other challenges that lie ahead.

“For the time being, there’s not much I can say about our upcoming game with Greece, all I know is that they are tough opponents, with remarkable defensive skills.

“But we will cause them some problems as well – that’s for sure.”

It is only the second time Poland have competed at the European Championships, having made their maiden appearance in 2008, with the co-hosts looking to improve on that effort where they were knocked out in the group stages.

Although they boast some serious talent in Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski and midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski, who is also the Polish skipper, goalkeeper Grzegorz Sandomierski said the Poles cannot simply rely on their stars to shine if they hope to advance.

“We all realise that, for us, we could be involved in this tournament for the whole month,” Sandomierski said.

“That is why we all have to be prepared to come out onto the pitch at any time and try to make that one decisive pass, to score or to make a save.

“The fate of the whole tournament might be in the hands of one person in this team.

“We are aware that we will all be useful at some point, if not on the pitch, then outside, where we must stay strong psychologically.

“We have to support each other. It is crucial for this team to be absolutely united.

“Only then will we be able to achieve a number of great things.”

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/poland-eye-strong-start/95882/

Lippi praises Guangzhou players

Marcello Lippi praised his players after his club became the first Chinese side to reach the AFC Champions League quarter-finals since 2006.

Tournament debutants Guangzhou Evergrande progressed with a first-half goal from Brazilian striker Cleo.

“Our team played as we expected,” Lippi said.

“Our opponent was fast, they are not tall, but they have good technique, however we left little room for them to attack,” said World Cup-winning coach Lippi after just his third game in charge of Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou.

“We created many opportunities to score and played hard. Our opponent also created several attacking threats.

“The victory can be attributed to the excellent performance of each and every player. If our attackers had taken their chances, we would have scored more goals.”

Meanwhile, Ulsan coach Kim Ho-gon was delighted to maintain his country’s interest in the competition.

Ulsan ensured that Korea will be represented in the quarter-finals after edging out Kashiwa in a five-goal thriller at the Ulsan Munsu Stadium.

After a goalless first half, the Korean side took a deserved lead through a Kim Shin-wook header only for Leandro Domingues to equalise midway through the second half.

Ulsan regained the lead courtesy of an own goal from Naoya Kondo and extended their advantage through Lee Keun-ho before Junya Tanaka pulled back a goal for Kashiwa in stoppage time.

““It was difficult game but we are happy with this win as we are the only survivors among the four K-league teams taking part in this year’s competition,” he said.

“I have told my players many times that we are not only representing our club but that we are also representing Korea and the players recognise the importance of that.”

The draw for the quarter-finals will take place on June 14.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/lippi-praises-guangzhou-players/95539/

Ukraine ease past Estonia World Soccer Shop

Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine continued their preparations for the tournament with a 4-0 friendly victory over Estonia in Austria on Monday.

Yarmolenko: Got Ukraine underway

First-half goals from Andriy Yarmolenko, Oleg Gusev (penalty) and Andriy Voronin had the game wrapped up before the interval, with substitute Artem Milevskiy adding gloss to the scoreline within five minutes of the restart.

The triumph was a fifth in six games for Oleg Blokhin's side, who have had only friendlies to fine-tune plans for their Euro 2012 opener against Sweden on June 11 due to not having had to qualify.

The Ukrainians asserted their authority from the outset at Kufstein Arena and almost went ahead in the first minute, when Yevgen Konoplianka's left-footed blast was parried by Estonia goalkeeper Mihkel Aksalu.

They did not have to wait long to go ahead, though, as Yarmolenko latched onto Serhiy Nazarenko's pass eight minutes later and lashed an unstoppable shot into the top-right corner.

Estonia, who only missed out on a place in Poland and Ukraine in a play-off against Republic of Ireland, offered little as an attacking force and Aksalu continued to be much the busier of the two keepers as the match wore on.

He did well to keep out a Nazarenko drive in the 30th minute but was powerless to keep out Gusev's spot-kick four minutes later after Yarmolenko had been fouled by Ragnar Klavan.

Marko Devic was also denied soon after, Aksalu tipping his effort around the post, before Voronin headed home Devic's cross four minutes before half-time.

Both sides made four substitutions at the break and two of Ukraine's replacements wasted little time making their impact in the second half, Milevskiy slotting his close-range shot into the bottom-left corner from Andriy Shevchenko's pass in the 50th minute.

Ukraine goalkeeper Andrei Pyatov was finally called into action three minutes later to tip a powerful attempt from Tarmo Kink over the bar, but that was as good as it got for Estonia.

Source : http://soccer365.com//news/european_news/general/17329/ukraine_ease_past_estonia