Waldemar Fornalik hopes to repay fans.
Poland coach Waldemar Fornalik hopes his side can justify the faith of their travelling support when they face England in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Tuesday.
England’s Football Association have opted to increase Poland’s ticket allocation to 18,000 in a bid to prevent away fans posing a security risk by mixing with their home counterparts.
According to some critics, the FA’s move has given added motivation to a Poland side who can no longer qualify for next year’s World Cup finals in a match England must win to guarantee their place at Brazil 2014.
“It will be a significant impact to have so many fans in the stands,” Fornalik said Monday.
“Polish fans have a track record of lifting the team in good times and bad.”
Meanwhile Poland captain Jakub Blaszczykowski said he was looking forward to having the same backing at Wembley as the team enjoyed during their defeat in a friendly by the Republic of Ireland in Dublin in February.
“Against Ireland, most of the fans were Poles and we expect the same tomorrow,” said Blaszczykowski.
“I am happy to hear about so many Poles coming to the match. We want to entertain them and get a very good result at Wembley.
“Hopefully we will play well enough to send them back home smiling.”
Defeat by Ukraine on Friday ended Poland’s hopes of making it to the 2014 finals even though their squad features three members of the Borussia Dortmund side — Blaszczykowski, injured defender Lukasz Piszczek and striker Robert Lewandowski — that lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich at Wembley in May.
“We are all very unhappy at not qualifying but that is how it is,” said Blaszczykowski.
“We have not scored enough goals despite creating many chances, and have drawn too many matches, most after individual mistakes.”
Now Poland will look to match the feats of their celebrated 1973 predecessors who by drawing at Wembley denied England a place at the following year’s World Cup finals in West Germany.
“That game in 1973 has a very important place in our history,” said Blaszczykowski. “People still talk about it now.
“It would be exciting to be part of history ourselves by getting a good result tomorrow as well.”
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