• Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker led Poland to their first ever UEFA European Championship finals, with nine-goal striker Euzebiusz Smolarek securing their qualification with a game to spare when he struck both goals in a 2-0 home win over Belgium.
• A 3-1 home defeat by Finland in their opening game in Group A – the only section to contain eight teams, rather than seven – was a shock and when a 1-1 draw against Serbia followed, things looked grim.
• They found the perfect response, however, by embarking on six-game winning run that included a 2-1 victory over Portugal, Smolarek registering twice.
• A 1-0 defeat in Armenia threw a spanner in the works, but Poland recovered. A late Jacek Krzynówek goal earned them a 2-2 draw in Portugal and after taking another point in Finland, they completed the job with wins against Kazakhstan and Belgium.
• The Poles secured first place in Group A by holding Serbia to a 2-2 draw in their final qualifier in Belgrade – a result that ended their hosts’ hopes of qualifying.• The number 13 proved to be a luck one for Poland as they secured their first UEFA European Championship final round appearance at the 13th attempt in qualifying for UEFA EURO 2008• Up until the end of qualifying for UEFA EURO 2008, Poland had appeared in all 13 UEFA European Championship qualifying competitions, and had played 90 matches. In that time, they had won 38, drawn 24 and lost 28 of those fixtures with 131 goals scored and 100 conceded.
from: http://en.euro2008.uefa.com
