Poland reach the Euros after Seeing off Ireland

The situation prior to the match saw the Polish and the Irish level on points, placing 2nd and 3rd respectively in the group. There of course were many permutations as to what the score line in Poland would mean for the fortunes of both national teams. If Poland won outright, they would be second in the group to Germany. A draw that was 0-0 or 1-1 would mean Poland would still automatically qualify, while a higher scored draw or a Irish victory would mean that the latter would take Poland’s seat as second in the group.

Poland eventually triumphed in what would be an awkward affair for the home side. Both sides failed to get themselves in the match before a long age strike from Grzegorz Krychowiak opened the scoring in Poland’s favor. Ireland stroke back with a dubious penalty decision after Michal Pazdan brought down Shane Long. Although it was questionable whether the foul took place inside or outside the box, the referee rewarded the visitors a penalty in the end. Nevertheless, Stoke City’s Jonathon Walters dispatched the penalty with ease. The score would remain level until Poland’s talisman Robert Lewandowski scored a thunderous header inside the box, just minutes before half time. That goal brought the Polish striker level with the record of qualification goals for the Euros (13), a feat shared with David Healy’s exploits in the 2008 qualification campaign. Lewandowski himself scored an outstanding 15 goals in six matches for club and country.

That second goal didn’t alleviate Polish worries however; as Ireland still needed a goal in order to gain advantage of the head-to-head record with Poland. Lukasz Fabianski had to pull off a superb save on Richard Keogh’s header in order to ensure his national team would achieve automatic qualification. That proved to be the final worry for the Polish national team as the home side closed out the match 2-1.

Michael Skok
Football Editor for
Polish-American Portal www.Poland.us
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