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WÓJCIK ON THE DRAW FOR THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2014 AND 2015
Ahead ofthe under-17s team, there are two very important events. Today, at the headquarters of UEFA, the qualifying groups for the UEFA European Championship 2014 and European Championships 2015 were drawn. They were valued especially for us by the coach Robert Wójcik.
The Polish under-17s National Team, in the second round of the eliminations for the European Championships 2014, will play with Turkey , Greece and Norway. The white reds qualified for the Elite phase after winning in the group where they played Belgium, Bulgaria and Macedonia. The European Championship final tournament will be held in Malta between 9-16 May 2014.
“During the Elite Round draw, you could be very lucky to be linked to the slightly lower rankedteams. Yes, we could have got far worse, but I think that, in our group, there won't be a strong favourite team. I believe in my team, but Turkey and Greece are also very strong teams. The first ones are well-trained technically, according to the opinion of experts, they have one of the best teams in Europe this year. In turn, the Greeks have an iron tactical discipline and are also well-trained technically. The Norwegians are known for great physical condition and excellent discipline. It will be very hard for us, but we won't give up and we announce that we will do everything in our power to present ourselves in a good way,” says Robert Wójcik.
In the eliminations for the European Championship 2015, the Poles will play with Georgia, Estonia and Liechtenstein. “You can not underestimate anyone, but we will fight to advance from the group,” commented the U-17’s coach.
“Theoretically the draw for us was very successful. We avoided strong rivals. Although no one can be underestimated, different things happen in football. It was what happened during the last draw of the under-19s European Cup qualifiers (Poland drew Romania, Lithuania and Armenia – Ed.). It seemed that, in the October matches, the white-and-reds will not have any problems, and we all know how it finished. Today's draw makes us feel happy. However, we realise that we will have to play very well to qualify further,” noted Robert Wójcik.
The tournament will be held in Georgia between 26-31 October 2014. “It is certainly a hot area. The Georgian representatives are a reliable team. It always has great technically skilled players. But we will not underestimate Estonia and Liechtenstein, although they are classified a little lower than us. We have a very ambitious and responsible task before us. We want to present ourselves well and fight for qualifying from the group,” said the coach of the under-17s team.
“We still have some time to prepare. Before us, there are friendly matches and three tournaments: The Victor Bannikov tournament in Ukraine at the end of April, UEFA Developement in Slovenia in June and the Mermaid Cup, as usual, at the end of August,” concluded Robert Wójcik.
