sportsfan2006
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Posts: 7
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 7:06 pm Post subject: Poland vs. Ecuador |
|
|
Poland vs. Ecuador
FIFA World Cup, Group A
Friday, June 09th 2006
By Scott Walters
http://www.wagerweb.com
Contributing Writer
The Poland national football team (Polish: polska reprezentacja narodowa) is controlled by the Polish Football Association. It played its first international match on 18 December 1921 in Budapest against Hungary and was defeated 0:1. Poland won the Gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the Silver medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In the World Cup, Poland finished third twice: in 1974 and 1982.
Soccer is probably the most popular sport in Poland. Over 400.000 Poles play soccer regularly; millions more play soccer sometimes. The first professional clubs were founded in the early 1900s and the Polish national soccer team played its first international match in 1921.
There are hundreds of professional and amateur soccer teams in Poland. Those teams are organized into the national 1st league and 2nd league, 4 regional 3rd leagues, 19 regional 4th leagues, 49 regional 5th leagues and many more lower level leagues. There are also Polish Cup and Polish Super Cup competitions.
The Ecuadorian National soccer team is governed by the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol. It was known in the past as one of the weakest teams in CONMEBOL, but it has been on the rise for the past decade, making their first World Cup qualification in 2002, and qualifying again for the 2006 World Cup.
In 2002 a victory over Croatia was not enough to get them into the second round of this World Cup. Without a doubt, Ecuador is the most improved member of CONMEBOL in the past years.
Ecuador was the undisputed revelation of qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan in the South American region. For a relatively small federation in one of the most difficult confederations of the world, Ecuador's second place finish in the trying group was a counterpoint of joy to Brazil's struggle -- the Ecuadorians finished one point ahead of the later world champions and second only to Argentina against all Sportsbook odds.
Top class players, Agustin Delgado, Alex Aguinaga, Iván Kaviedes, Iván Hurtado and Ulises de la Cruz lead the way, with Agustin "Tin" Delgado finishing co-top goal scorer with the Argentinean, Hernan Crespo at 9 goals. Although they didn't make it past the first round they were certainly no disgrace. In their last match they even beat the reigning bronze medalists, Croatia 1-0 through a trademark Edison Mendez mid-range rocket.
. |
|
