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Franciszek Smuda: 'These political issues don't concern us directly'
Posted Tuesday, June 12, 2012 by SNTV

Intro:

Poland and Russia trained and held press conferences at the National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland on Monday - on the eve of their meeting in European Championship Group A.

Script:

Euro 2012 has already brought highs and lows for Poland and Russia.

Co-hosts Poland squandered a one-goal and one-man advantage against Greece, drawing the match 1-1. 

But Russia had no such problems against the Czech Republic, comfortably winning 4-1.

The game between the two countries carries its own political implications, but Poland manager Franciszek Smuda's not concerned about that.

SOUNDBITE: (Polish) Franciszek Smuda, Poland manager:
(on the political implications of the game against Russia)
"As I have already said, we are somehow separated - TV, press, we should not focus on this. Our players are watching music channels, they don't want to get obsessed with this atmosphere. These political issues don't concern us directly. We are more focused on the game, because we know we are playing against a great team. Russia has outstanding players and this is what really interests us. We want to present ourselves in the right form. We have to prepare our tactics for this game." 

Russia are feeling confident after their victory over the Czech Republic on Friday. 

But Russia manager Dick Advocaat's still expecting tough opposition from Poland.

SOUNDBITE: (Dutch) Dick Advocaat, Russia manager:
(on whether Poland will take a defensive approach against Russia) 
"Poland is a strong team and they're playing at home, which is an advantage, but we showed in our first match that we are a very good team and we can make it very difficult for our opponents. We showed that against the Czech Republic and the games before as well. It will be a very interesting game." 

Russia play Poland in Warsaw on Tuesday evening.
Standings
    Rank Team W/D/L Pts

    Cities & Stadiums

    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia