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Poles Intent on Giving Koreans Parting Gift Before Leaving World Cup
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| Dudek
has vowed to help South Korea achieve their goal of reaching the
World Cup |
JEONJU,
June 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United States find
themselves in the unaccustomed position as favorites for their final
World Cup group match with Poland on Friday, June 14, in their bid to
clinch passage to the second round, as Poland who can not make the
second round at the World Cup can definitely spoil things for the
Americans.
Although
U.S. have upset Group D favorites Portugal and drew with co-hosts
South Korea, they still need to beat the Poles to get into the last 16
for the first time since they hosted the finals in 1994, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) said.
The
Americans are on level points with
Korea
and could miss out on the last 16 if
Poland
upset them and the co-hosts and
Portugal
draw their match with the tournament co-hosts in Incheon on Friday.
That’s
exactly what Poland intends to do, as Poland goalkeeper Jerzy
Dudek has
vowed to help South Korea achieve their goal of reaching the World Cup
second round after being bowled over by the co-hosts’ hospitality.
Dudek
and
Poland
were sent packing from the World Cup on Monday, June 10, after
crashing 4-0 against
Portugal
, who moved to within one point of Group D leaders
South Korea
and the
United States
after the win.
Portugal
face
South Korea
in their final group match on Friday, when victory for the Europeans
could see the tournament hosts knocked out.
A
Portuguese win would mean
Poland
would have to beat the Americans for
Korea
to go through to the next round - and
Liverpool
keeper Dudek is determined to do the tournament hosts a favor, AFP
said.
“We
have to make a gift to the Korean people who looked after us very
well,” Dudek said.
“They
were friendly and the people want to qualify. We have to get a good
result for
Korea
,” said Dudek, putting aside the bitter disappointment of a
Poland
campaign which had promised much but delivered little.
Dudek
said
Poland
’s return to the World Cup stage after a 16-year absence had not
gone as planned, with a 2-0 defeat to
Korea
followed by the rout against
Portugal
.
As
for the
U.S.
position, it has three players with yellow cards from earlier games -
defenders Frankie Hejduk and Jeff Agoos and midfielder DaMarcus
Beasley - and any of them could be stood down for the
Poland
encounter, AFP said.
“We
need to play our best team against
Poland
regardless of our yellow card situation,” coach Bruce Arena said
Thursday, June 13.
“But
we are going to look at the cards, the fitness of some players and
certainly our opponents.”
Although
Poland
have lost both their games here without scoring a goal, Arena is
cautious about Friday’s match.
“
Poland
had an outstanding run in qualifying matches, but they haven't shown
their best in this World Cup,” said Arena.
“We
have to anticipate that they will show their best against us on
Friday.”
Arena
is particularly aware of the threat posed by Nigerian-born striker
Emmanuel Olisadebe, midfielders Radoslaw Kaluzny and Jacek Krzynowek
and the outstanding goalkeeper Jerzy
Dudek.
“There’s
a lot of good players in the
Poland
team and we have to be ready for a real difficult game.”
“I
can’t imagine why we would have a favorable crowd to watch us play
Poland
,” said Arena.
“There
will be our respective supporters, but there will be a so-called
neutral crowd of Koreans and I think they will probably be cheering
for
Poland
.
“It
won’t be the same as it was on Wednesday (against
Korea
), but I can’t imagine it will be a pro-American crowd.”
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