Interview: Miracle needed against Germany, Polish great says

By Mary Sibierski Jun 13, 2006, 19:04 GMT

Warsaw - Poland need a miracle or a fluke to win its World Cup match against Germany after the stinging 2-0 loss to Ecuador in their opening match, a legendary Polish goalkeeper said Tuesday.

'It will take a miracle - or an accident,' Janusz Tomaszewski, hero of Poland's third-place finish in 1974, told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa in a telephone interview.

He compared the Germans to a Mercedes-Benz and the troubled Poland squad to a Wartburg, a clunky communist-era East Germany car. When the two neighbours meet Wednesday in Dortmund, a loss would bring an early end to Poland's World Cup campaign.

'It's plain the Germans are in an entirely different class,' said Tomaszewski.

Star midfielder Michael Ballack 'is worth more than the Polish squad, the coach and the heads of the Polish football federation all together,' he said.

Pele once called Tomaszewski the best goalie in the world after Poland's historic victory over Brazil in the third-place match at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.

Tomaszewski joined in a hail of criticism faced by Polish coach Pawel Janas, who antagonized many fans by refusing to name stars like goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek for the World Cup squad.

'Pawel Janas does not have a sober view on the game of football -

'Everyone can see he has been discredited now, but the Polish federation bosses won't cut him just to save face,' Tomaszewski said.

Two other Polish coaches have been called in to 'help' Janas ahead of Wednesday's match with Germany, Tomaszewski said.

The Dziennik daily reported Tuesday that Antoni Piechniczek and Henryk Apostel would help Janas develop a strategy for the Germany match.

'But really this mess is just another episode in the long funeral of Polish football,' said Tomaszewski, a strident critic of Poland's corruption-laced football league.

'It can't be any worse than at the moment with corruption affair after corruption affair in the Polish league and no action to clean it up.'

'The game with Germany will more than likely just be the last nail in the coffin.'