Why can't Poland recruit Polish soccer stars?

That was missewa's assertion, not mine.

Listen, Poland fielded its side with nothing but Polish citizens. If America discounted any athlete with foriegn roots, we wouldn't have much of a trophy case, now would we? Poland's national team is putting the best available players on the pitch, with the best available coach. The amount of complaining for a team that made it's first EURO this year is ridiculous.

agreed on the complaining.

actually, there are very few foreign athletes that compete for USA in the olympics and the like. now, in the major leagues in almost all sports there sure is a fair share of non americans but USA likes to be represented by its citizens not someone who may play well but be from somewhere else.

I said foriegn roots, meaning blacks and whites. If we just took "natural" Americans it would be nothing but Hopi and Iriqouis tribes and last I checked Lacrosse isn't a Olympic sport.


So does Poland, that's why Roger became a citizen. Listen, I hear what you're saying; would it be nice if Poland could make up a superteam of "natural" Poles, of course but that doesn't seem to be the case so I'm all for the best available squad.

Apache wrestling anyone? Navaho tiddlywinks?

it got edged out by curling.

The best Polish coach in the world is Peter Nowak and the best Polish player maybe of all time is Podolski. It is a shame they weren't recruited by Poland.

although Podolski is no doubt an excellent player, claiming he is the best Polish player of all time is stretching it a bit ........

not sure how old you are missewa, but he'd have to go a fair bit to be compared to some of the Golden Oldies of Polish football :o)

Gregorz Lato, Kazimierz Deyna, Włodzimierz Lubanski, Zbigniew Boniek .... Andrzej Szarmach.


has he coached anywhere else apart from MLS ?

If Podolski stays healthy and wins a World Cup with a runner up already under his belt it gives him the edge over the other players you mentioned. Nowak is helping coach team USA for the olympics and has valuable international experience as a player and captain of his team.

This is a very simplistic view of whether one player is better than another .... the number of World Cup's or trophies the team he was playing in won :o)

Everyone would agree that George Best was one the best players of his generation, maybe even the best there has ever been (Pele has said that George Best was one of the greatest players he had ever seen !), and if he were playing now he would definitely be amongst the top players; yet because he never graced the World Cup or European Cup tournament, by your criteria he would not be considered one of Britain's greats of football.

When comparing players .... look at their overall ability, skill etc.. and not just what trophies their country/team has won.

Everyone has their own opinion as to who is or has been the greatest footballer, and up to now nobody can agree...... and it appears that the only thing we will agree on ... is to disagree !!

I guess you don't consider Jordan, Woods, Gretzky, Montana, Ali, Shumacher, Federer, Navratilova the best either even though the reason they're considered the best is because of the many championships they've won.

Is she Czech or American for you, Miss Ewa?

5 out of the 8 examples you have given are not involved in team sports, but individual sports, so in sports like tennis, golf, boxing, athletics etc. it is perfectly acceptable to judge who is better based on the number of championships/tournaments he/she has won over the years, or on the record of wins/losses between two individuals.

The same cannot be applied to team sports …. Would Podolski be as prolific if he was playing in the Polish national team as he is with the German national team ?? Having witnessed the Polish team at Euro2008 I would have to say no :o)

A striker relies on receiving good balls from midfield or good quality crosses and this was severely lacking from the Polish players.

Another example, take Alan Shearer, England’s centre forward for many years …. He played for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle …. and if I’m correct he only won one Premiership title in his whole career … no FA cups and no League Cups … yet he was considered the best forward in the country at that time :o) He represented England but did not win any trophies at International level.

When comparing strikers … one looks at the goals scored, goals per game ratio, appearances for their club/national team and not necessarily the number of trophies they have amassed :o)