Smuda quits as Polish Euro dream ends

Poland coach Franciszek Smuda resigned after the Euro 2012 co-host was eliminated from the championship on Saturday in a 1-0 defeat by the Czech Republic. “This is 100 percent the end of the road. My contract runs out at the end of Euro 2012. Thanks...

Poland coach Franciszek Smuda resigned after the Euro 2012 co-host was eliminated from the championship on Saturday in a 1-0 defeat by the Czech Republic.

“This is 100 percent the end of the road. My contract runs out at the end of Euro 2012. Thanks guys,” a visibly upset Smuda told Poland’s public TVP broadcaster.

The Poles needed to win the game after drawing their first two matches but a 72nd minute strike by Petr Jiracek ended any hopes they had of reaching the last eight.

“We did our best. Unfortunately, we had a lot of missed passes. In the second period, we had to fight non-stop to get the ball back,” said 63-year-old Smuda, who has been in charge since October 2009.

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