Eurosport - Thu, 12 Feb 10:42:00 2009
Wales fell to a 1-0 defeat against Poland in Portugal in a match that will tell John Toshack little about his side.
A brilliant goal from Brazilian-born Roger Guerreiro 10 minutes from time settled the contest but Wales effectively had a reserve team out when they conceded the late goal.
Wales were missing the likes of James Collins, Danny Gabbidon, Simon Davies, Jason Koumas and Robert Earnshaw before kick-off and then took off Craig Bellamy, Joe Ledley, Wayne Hennessey, Ched Evans and Jack Collison at half-time.
With Poland also making four changes at the break, and then two more in the second half, the game's rhythm was completely disrupted after a reasonably lively first half.
In that opening period Wales were actually the better side and were unlucky not to go in at the break in front.
They came desperately close to scoring twice in the space of a minute just after the half-hour when first Ledley saw a fluky shot loop up and hit the underside of the bar before David Edwards's powerful header was cleared off the line from a corner.
Wales were looking particularly lively down the left where Ledley, Bellamy and Gareth Bale were linking up well.
Bellamy had a few decent chances after being put in behind the defence but Michal Zewlakow cleared one, Bellamy half-volleyed another over the bar, and then, with his best chance, the Manchester City player dragged a low shot just wide.
Poland had a few moments in the first half too but nothing that really troubled Hennessey and it was not until the 79th minute that they really forced a Welsh keeper into a quality save, with substitute Boaz Myhill pushing away a stunning 35-yard-drive from Mariusz Lewandowski.
Moments later Poland had the lead thanks to the first moment of genuine quality in the match as Roger produced a stunning lob from the edge of the area with the outside of his boot which caught out Myhill despite the Hull keeper not being too far off his line.
Wales struggled to get anything going in the second half after all their changes but Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey did show some quality after coming on and Lewin Nyatanga missed one great chance when he headed a Bale free-kick wide from close range.
Tosack's side face two big World Cup qualifiers at home to Finland and Germany next month but what this match will have taught him ahead of those clashes is hard to gauge.
Seán Fay / Eurosport| Match |
|---|
| Hull City 0 - 0 Stoke City |
| Match |
|---|
| Falkirk 0 - 0 Celtic |
| Match |
|---|
| FC Utrecht 0 - 0 sc Heerenveen |
| AZ Alkmaar 0 - 0 Feyenoord |
| Match |
|---|
| Ankaragücü 1 - 1 Kasimpasa |
| Manisaspor 0 - 2 Gaziantepspor |
| Eskisehirspor 1 - 0 Denizlispor |
| Match |
|---|
| Energie Cottbus 0 - 0 1860 München |
| Karlsruher SC 3 - 0 1. FC Union Berlin |
| MSV Duisburg 2 - 0 RW Ahlen |
| Match |
|---|
| Northwich Victoria 0 - 0 Charlton Athletic |
| Match |
|---|
| Spartak Nalchik 2 - 4 Dinamo Moskva |
| CSKA Moskva 0 - 2 Rubin Kazan |
| Kuban Krasnodar 3 - 3 FK Moscow |
| Krylya Sovetov Samara 2 - 1 Spartak Moskva |
| Match |
|---|
| NAC Breda 4 - 0 Willem II |
| NEC 0 - 1 RKC Waalwijk |
| Sparta Rotterdam 1 - 2 Roda JC |
| Vitesse 2 - 0 VVV-Venlo |
| Match |
|---|
| Aberdeen 2 - 1 St. Johnstone |
| Hamilton Academical 2 - 2 Motherwell |
| Kilmarnock 0 - 2 Dundee United |
| Rangers 2 - 1 St. Mirren |
| Match |
|---|
| Atlético Madrid 2 - 3 Real Madrid |
| FC Barcelona 4 - 2 RCD Mallorca |
| Getafe CF 0 - 2 Deportivo La Coruña |
| CD Tenerife 2 - 2 Málaga CF |
| Match |
|---|
| Atalanta 2 - 5 Juventus |
| Catania 0 - 0 Napoli |
| Match |
|---|
| VfL Bochum 1 - 2 SC Freiburg |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 - 0 VfB Stuttgart |
| FSV Mainz 05 1 - 0 1. FC Nürnberg |
| Bayern München 1 - 1 Schalke 04 |
| Hoffenheim 1 - 2 VfL Wolfsburg |
| Match |
|---|
| FC Brasov 0 - 0 Unirea Urziceni |
| Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt 0 - 1 FC Vaslui |
| Match |
|---|
| Vitória Guimarães 1 - 0 Sporting Braga |
| Vitória Setúbal 0 - 0 SC Olhanense |
| Match |
|---|
| Trabzonspor 0 - 2 Besiktas |
| Match |
|---|
| Polonia Warszawa 0 - 1 Cracovia Kraków |
| Polonia Bytom 1 - 1 Lech Poznan |
| GKS Belchatów 1 - 0 Arka Gdynia |
| Slask Wroclaw 2 - 1 Piast Gliwice |
| Match |
|---|
| Atlético Tucumán 4 - 2 Tigre |
| Newell's Old Boys 2 - 1 River Plate |
| Godoy Cruz 3 - 1 Racing Club |
| Lanús 0 - 3 Chacarita Juniors |
| Match |
|---|
| Vitória 0 - 1 Avaí |
| Santos 3 - 1 Náutico |
| Sport 2 - 3 Cruzeiro |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 15:00 | West Ham United v Everton |
| 15:00 | Wigan Athletic v Fulham |
| 16:00 | Chelsea v Manchester United |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 16:00 | Real Valladolid v Xerez CD |
| 16:00 | Sporting Gijón v RCD Espanyol |
| 16:00 | Racing Santander v Athletic Bilbao |
| 16:00 | UD Almería v Osasuna |
| 18:00 | Valencia CF v Real Zaragoza |
| 20:00 | Sevilla FC v Villarreal CF |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 14:00 | Cagliari v Sampdoria |
| 14:00 | Bologna v Palermo |
| 14:00 | Genoa v Siena |
| 14:00 | Lazio v AC Milan |
| 14:00 | Parma v Chievo |
| 14:00 | Udinese v Fiorentina |
| 14:00 | Bari v Livorno |
| 19:45 | Internazionale v AS Roma |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 14:30 | Hannover 96 v Hamburger SV |
| 16:30 | Werder Bremen v Borussia Dortmund |
| 16:30 | Hertha BSC v 1. FC Köln |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 16:00 | Lille OSC v Girondins Bordeaux |
| 16:00 | Toulouse FC v Rennes |
| 20:00 | Olympique Lyon v Olympique Marseille |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 13:45 | Zenit St. Petersburg v Terek Groznyi |
| 16:00 | Lokomotiv Moskva v Amkar Perm |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 13:30 | ADO Den Haag v PSV |
| 15:30 | FC Twente v Ajax |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 16:00 | Leixões SC v CD Nacional |
| 16:00 | União Leiria v Académica Coimbra |
| 18:00 | CS Marítimo v FC Porto |
| 20:15 | Rio Ave FC v Sporting CP |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 14:00 | Sivasspor v Kayserispor |
| 18:00 | Diyarbakirspor v Galatasaray |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 13:45 | Ruch Chorzów v Jagiellonia Bialystok |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 16:00 | Elche CF v Real Unión de Irún |
| 16:00 | Cádiz CF v Real Betis |
| 16:00 | FC Girona v Villarreal B |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 19:10 | San Lorenzo v Banfield |
| 21:10 | Estudiantes (La Plata) v Vélez Sársfield |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 18:00 | Fluminense v Palmeiras |
| 18:00 | Atlético-MG v Flamengo |
| 18:00 | Corinthians v Santo André |
| 20:30 | Barueri v Internacional |
| 20:30 | Atlético-PR v Goiás |
| 20:30 | Botafogo v Coritiba |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 15:00 | Burton Albion v Oxford City |
| 15:00 | Wealdstone v Rotherham United |
Sign up to our free daily newsletter to recieve the latest news straight to your inbox. Make sure you don’t miss a thing.
Sign up now
This site is Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! and Eurosport. All rights reserved.
Notice: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy.


Comment 1 - 10 of 10
hey Eric, thats because all the best polish player play for Germany....
Wales play Poland in a Portugese sports centre with only goal being scored by a Brazilian!!!! Go figure
Wales were unlucky against a strong Polish team who are 28th in the FIFA rankings,we beat Denmark 1-0 AWAY in our last game yet we have dropped 5 places in the FIFA rankings! has anybody got a clue how these rankings work? Cliff Jones
Hope Wales give us something to cheer about in the next competition and i'm English!
dobra dawc głosy
Great game but Poland needs to show better soccer if they want to get to World Cup
couple of years time and wales will have a real good team...lots of very good youngsters comming along
Tracey Parry don't get involved in a man's game,stay by the sink,He,He,
I dont think it is the players , think it has more to do with the rubbish MANAGER they have. Who extended his contract, they must need their head read !!!!!
WALES ARE UTTER PANTS come on ENGLAND!!
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account