Experienced international Arkadiusz Radomski has spoken of his shock at being left out of Poland's Euro 2008 squad.

The defensive-minded Austria Vienna player was omitted from Leo Beenhakker's squad of 26 for next month's tournament in Austria and Switzerland in favour of youngster Michal Pazdan.

Radomski was a regular starter for Poland during their qualification campaign and featured in their first four games back in 2006 before suffering a serious knee injury.

"I was very surprised by the decision of Beenhakker. I did not expect this even in my worst nightmares," Radomski told Gazeta Wyborcza.

"I was confident that I will make the 26-man squad for the training camp in Germany."

Radomski, who can play at centre-half or as a defensive midfielder, was retained on a six-man reserve list, but the 30-year-old opted to pull out completely.

But Radomski's disappointment is Pazdan's delight, the 20-year-old close to capping a meteoric rise from the obscurity of playing for Hutnik Krakow in the Polish third division last year to featuring at a major international tournament just 12 months later.

The Gornik Zabrze player has already won three caps for his country and will be hoping to make Beenhakker's final cut, when the coach trims his squad down to 23 before heading to Austria and Switzerland.

"I know that the selection has not finished yet and only 23 players will make the Euro 2008 squad," Padzan told PAP.

"It will not be easy to win a place in this group but I will do my best to impress the coach.

"Of course, as every other player I was dreaming of playing for the national team but did not expect that the things will develop so quickly."

Pawel Dimow / Eurosport