The Poland national football team (Polish: Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland. Poland's home ground is National Stadium in Warsaw and their current head coach is Waldemar Fornalik.
The most renowned Polish team was the one of the mid-1970s that held England to a draw at Wembley to qualify for the World Cup in 1974. They defeated Brazil 1–0 to claim third place in the tournament, with striker Grzegorz Lato winning the Golden Boot for his seven goals. Poland also finished 3rd in the 1982 beating France 3–2 in the third-place play-off.
Poland also won the gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich; the silver medal in 1976 in Montreal; and a silver medal in 1992 in Barcelona. Their Olympic success was helped by a wholly amateur squad, similar to other nations behind the Iron Curtain.
Poland first qualified for the European Football Championships in 2008. They also qualified automatically for the 2012 European Football Championship by virtue of being joint hosts with Ukraine. They finished bottom of their group on both occasions.
Read more about Poland National Football Team: Competitive Record, Honours, Stadium, Results and Fixtures, Managers
Famous quotes containing the words football team, poland, national, football and/or team:
“...I’m not money hungry.... People who are rich want to be richer, but what’s the difference? You can’t take it with you. The toys get different, that’s all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It’s all relative.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“It is often said that Poland is a country where there is anti-semitism and no Jews, which is pathology in its purest state.”
—Bronislaw Geremek (b. 1932)
“I would dodge, not lie, in the national interest.”
—Larry Speakes (b. 1939)
“You can’t be a Real Country unless you have A BEER and an airline—it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a BEER.”
—Frank Zappa (1940–1993)
“Relying on any one disciplinary approach—time-out, negotiation, tough love, the star system—puts the parenting team at risk. Why? Because children adapt to any method very quickly; today’s effective technique becomes tomorrow’s worn dance.”
—Ron Taffel (20th century)