Poland’s draw with Russia in their crunch Euro 2012 fixture felt like a win, given how great a boost it has dealt to the tournament co-hosts’ confidence as they eye an historic quarter-finals berth.
Despite a second successive 1-1 draw in this tournament, their performance against the highly-rated Russians was vastly different than against the limited, if spirited, Greeks.
This time round the Poles were the ones who fought back from going a goal down to force the draw. However, a repeat of that result will not suffice in their final game against the Czechs as they have to win to progress.
Doing it against old rivals Russia, with whom sporting encounters feed into age-old political antipathy, gave the game an extra edge – all the more so because the Russians hammered the Czech Republic last Friday.
“We played well and they played well. Favourites or not favourites, that doesn’t mean anything. We’ll see what happens next,” said defender Damien Perquis.
Dariusz Dudka, who made the starting line-up against Russia after having been left out for the Greece match, underlined the psychological impact of the result.
“It’s very important, because for us it’s like the final is against the Czech Republic,” said Dudka.
“We drew with a very good team who beat the Czech Republic 4-1, so for us in our heads that’s important ahead of Saturday’s game.”
Poland face the Czechs that day in the southwestern city of Wroclaw, while Russia wrap up against Greece in Warsaw.
Poland can dare to dream because with the Czech Republic having beaten Greece 2-1 earlier on Tuesday, Russia top Group A on four points while the Czechs are second on three, Poland third on two and Greece have one.
“We’re still in the race, we’ve got two points, our destiny at our feet. If we beat the Czechs we’ll go through, so there’s no question we have to win. We want to elbow our way to the quarter-finals,” said midfielder Ludovic Obraniak.
Poland have been roared on by their home crowd at both Euro 2012 matches, and want to repay that support.
“You want to make the fans proud. They’re fantastic. We want to give them something back,” said first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who missed the Russia match through suspension.
“We’re still in the hunt. The last game against the Czech Republic, if we win it we’re through to the quarter-finals... it’s as simple as that. We’re confident.”