Champions League Preview: Slask Wroclaw vs. Helsingborg

Slask Wroclaw's quest to qualify for the Champions League continues Wednesday when the Polish league champions welcome Swedish league champions Helsingborg.

Both sides began their Champions League adventures in the second qualifying round. Helsingborg defeated The New Saints 3-0 on aggregate, with all three goals being scored in the second leg. As for Slask, they got passed Montenegrin club Buducnost Podgorica by winning 2-0 in the first leg, but losing 1-0 in the second leg which was not a factor in the series.

Coming into this game, Slask will have a new face in the back line. Tomasz Jodlowiec signed with Slask on Monday and will be available to play in the first leg. Strikers Johan Voskamp and Cristian Diaz will also be available for selection.

The player to watch on the Swedish side is striker Alfred Finnbogason. He's on loan from Belgian side Lokeren, and has 10 goals in 16 league appearances for Helsingborg. In fact, Finnbogason was on trial with Lechia Gdansk in 2010, but was too expensive for the Polish side.

Game-time: 2:45 pm est

Kobylanski headlines U-19 call ups

Polish prospect Martin Kobylanski was called up to the Polish U-19 national team for a two-legged frienldy against Latvia.

The first game is scheduled for August 13 with the second game two days later.

Here is the full squad:

G: Amadeusz Skrzyniarz (Zaglebie Lubin), Mateusz Taudul (Everton, England) 

D: Gracjan Horoszkiewicz (Hertha Berlin, Germany), Tomasz Kedziora (Lech Poznan), Adrian Liberacki (Reggina, Italy), Adam Porzezinski (Pogon Szczecin), Radoslaw Robakowski (Arka Gdynia), Patryk Stepinski (Widzew Lodz), Wiktor Witt (Lech Poznan).

M: Aleksander Jagiello (Legia Warszawa), Karol Linetty (Lech Poznan), Lukasz Kacprzycki (Lechia Gdansk), Mariusz Stepinski (Widzew Lodz), Robert Sulewski (Arka Gdynia), Kamil Wlodyka (Ruch Chorzow), Lukasz Wronski (GKS Belchatow), Piotr Zielinski (Udinese, Italy).

F: Wiktor Baginski (Lech Poznan), Mateusz Janeczko (Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biala), Martin Kobylanski (Energie Cottbus, Germany), Arkadiusz Milik (Gornik Zabrze), Norbert Neumann (Pogon Szczecin).

What do you think of Poland's squad?

Latest signings around Ekstraklasa

Lech Poznan have signed Gambian defender Kebba Ceesay to a four-year deal today. 

The 24-year-old right-back has spend his entire career in Sweden, playing for IK Brage, Vasalunds IF and Djurgardens IF. He has also made six appearances for the Gambian national team.

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Poland national team defender Tomasz Jodlowiec signed a two-year deal with Polish league champions Slask Wroclaw today.

Jodlowiec will be available to play Wednesday against Helsingborgs IF in Champions League. He will wear the number 3 on the back of his jersey.

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Legia Warszawa signed Paraguayan midfielder Jorge Salinas.

The 20-year-old will not be eligible to play for another two or three weeks because of paper work, according to Legia Warszawa's sporting director Marek Jozwiak.

Salinas began his professional career at Czech side AS Trencin in 2009. In three years, Salinas made 66 appearances, scoring 14 goals. He has also been on trials with Ajax and Chelsea.

Boenisch talking with West Ham

According to English reports, Polish national team defender Sebastian Boenisch met with West Ham's head coach Sam Allardyce at the club's training camp in Germany.

The free agent Boenisch left Werder Bremen after five seasons with the club. He was linked with a possible move to Scottish side Celtic or German club Stuttgart.

West  Ham officials are surprised that Boenisch is still without a club and are urging Allardyce to make a quick move for the 25-year-old defender.

Lewandowski lifts Borussia over Legia in friendly

Robert Lewandowski's 4th minute goal proved to be the difference in Borussia Dortmund's 1-0 win over Legia Warszawa.

Lewandowski capitalized after Legia's newest signing Marko Suler made a terrible mistake while trying to clear the ball. All three Poles from Borussia started and played 45 minutes.

Legia: Kuciak (61. Skaba) - Rzezniczak, Zewlakow (46. Jedrzejczyk), Suler (46. Astiz), Wawrzyniak - Lukasik (46. Vrdoljak), Furman (67. Kopczynski), Gol (46. Radovic), Kosecki (46. Kucharczyk), Zyro (78. Zurek) - Saganowski (46. Ljuboja).

Borussia: Weidenfeller - Piszczek (46. Kirch), Kehl (46. Schmelzer), Hummels (46. Gunter), Santana (46. Subotic) - Gundogan (46. Amini), Blaszczykowski (46. Bittencourt), Grosskreutz (46. Leitner), Loewe (46. Bender), Reus (46. Schieber)- Lewandowski (46. Perisic).

Here is Lewandowski's goal:

UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying Round Preview

LECH POZNAN vs. AIK FOTBOLL
First leg: August 2 (Solna)
Second leg: August 9 (Poznan)

Second qualifying round:
AIK-FH (1-1, 1-0)

Lech-Khazar Lankaran (1-1, 1-0)

Note: Former Lech Poznan goalkeeper Ivan Turina currently plays for AIK. They currently sit fourth in the league with 7 wins, 6 draws and 3 losses.

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LEGIA WARSZAWA vs. SV RIED
First leg: August 2 (Ried)
Second leg: August 9 (Warszawa)

Second qualifying round:
Shakhtyor Salihorsk-SV Ried (1-1, 0-0)
Liepajas Metalurgs-Legia (2-2, 1-5)

Note: SV Reid plays at the smallest stadium of any Austrian Bundesliga team (capacity: 7,680). They won 2-0 in their first league game of the season on July 22. Ried finished in 6th place (out of 10 teams) last season but were runner-ups in the Austrian Cup.

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RUCH CHORZOW vs. VIKTORIA PLZEN
First leg: August 2 (Chorzow)
Second leg: August 9 (Plzen)

Second qualifying round:
Metalurgi Rustavi-Viktoria Plzen (1-3, 0-2)
Ruch Chorzow-Metalurg Skopje (3-1, 3-0)

Note: Marek Bakos was runner-up in most goals in the Gambrinus liga last season (16 goals). Viktoria Plzen advanced to the group stage of the Champions League last season. They finished third with 5 points.

Polish trio on Borussia's roster for Legia friendly

German league champions Borussia Dortmund have announced their traveling roster for their upcoming friendly against Legia Warszawa, and it includes most of their key players as well as the Polish trio.

The match kicks off at 11 a.m. est and 5 p.m. local at Pepsi Arena in Warszawa. The game will be televised on TVP.

Here is the full roster:

Goalkeepers: Roman Weidenfeller, Mitchell Langerak

Defenders: Lukasz Piszczek, Chris Lowe, Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Felipe Santana, Marcel Schmelzer, Koray Gunter, Patrick Owomoyela

Midfielders: Jakub Blaszczykowski, Mario Gotze, Ilkay Gundogan, Moritz Leitner, Leonardo Bittencourt, Sebastian Kehl, Oliver Kirch, Jonas Hohmann, Ivan Perisic, Sven Bender, Mustafa Amini, Kevin Grosskreutz

Forwards: Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus, Julian Schieber

Anyone in Poland attending the game?

Fornalik completes coaching staff but names not released

Poland national team head coach Waldemar Fornalik completed his coaching staff, but names were not released.

"I've completed my coaching staff, but the details will not be released until the Federation holds its board meeting on August 2," Fornalik said.

The names must be approved by PZPN.

For now, Fornalik has been observing Polish teams in the Chmapions League and Europa League.

Tonev's winner leads Lech past Khazar Lenkoran

Aleksandar Tonev's lone goal helped Lech Poznan advance to the third qualifying round of the Europa League.

Tonev's long strike from outside the penalty kick found the back of the net in the 15th minute. A back-and-forth game that could have gone both ways. In the 90th minute, Khazar's captain Rahid Amirquliev saw a second yellow card and was sent off.

Lech will take on Swedish side AIK in the next round. Games played on August 2nd and 9th.

Lech: Jasmin Buric - Hubert Wolakiewicz, Manuel Arboleda, Marcin Kaminski, Luis Henriquez - Mateusz Mozdzen, Lukasz Tralka (90. Ivan Djurdjevic), Rafal Murawski, Aleksandar Tonev - Vojo Ubiparip (63. Gergo Lovrencsics), Bartosz Slusarski (87. Bartosz Bereszynski).

Tonev's goal:

Legia 5, Metalurgs 1: Goal Highlights

Saganowski hat-trick leads Legia into next round of EL

Marek Saganowski re-opened his Legia Warszawa scoring account with three goals in today's 5-1 rout over Liepajas Metalurgs.

Saganowski started the scoring in the 4th minute, heading in from Miroslav Radovic's corner kick. In the 39th minute, Jakub Wawrzyniak's shot was redirected by Saganowski, who scored his second of the day.

Liepajas pulled back with a goal from Vladimirs Kames just seconds before halftime. However, in the 54th minute, Liepajas were forced to play with 10-man after Genadijs Solonicin was shown a red card from elbowing Michal Kucharczyk in the face.

After the red card, Liepajas had no chance with Legia scoring three more times. Janusz Gol made it 3-1 in the 57th minute, Michal Zyro made it 4-1 four minutes later off a free-kick, and Saganowski completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute.

Legia will play Austrian side SV Ried in the third qualifying round.

Legia: Dusan Kuciak - Artur Jedrzejczyk, Michal Zewlakow (77. Marko Suler), Inaki Astiz, Jakub Wawrzyniak - Michal Kucharczyk (61. Michal Zyro), Miroslav Radovic, Janusz Gol, Daniel Lukasik (64. Dominik Furman), Jakub Kosecki - Marek Saganowski.

Ruch advance in Europa League after blowout

Ruch Chorzow are moving on to the next round of the Europa League after completing a 6-1 aggregate blowout after today's 3-0 win over Metalurg Skopje.

Having already a 3-1 lead from the first leg, Ruch added on early after Lukasz Janoszka found the back of the net off a scramble inside the penalty box. In the 15th minute, Ruch added to their lead with a goal from Gabor Straka.

After halftime, Ruch completed the blowout after Maciej Jankowski send Arkadiusz Piech a perfect pass and Piech finished off a one-on-one to give Ruch a 3-0 lead.

Ruch will now face Czech side Viktoria Plzen. First leg is scheduled for August 2nd in Chorzow.

Ruch: Michal Peskovic - Zeljko Dokic (53. Igor Lewczuk), Piotr Stawarczyk, Maciej Sadlok, Marek Szyndrowski - Marek Zienczuk, Gabor Straka, Marcin Malinowski (66. Pawel Lisowski), Lukasz Janoszka (76. Filip Starzynski) - Maciej Jankowski, Arkadiusz Piech.

New ball for 2012/13 Ekstraklasa season

What do you think about the new ball?

Thursday's Europa League action

Metalurg Skopje vs. Ruch Chorzow 11 am est
Aggregate: 1-3
Possible opponent in next round: Metalurgi Rustavi or Viktoria Plzen (1-3)

Lech Poznan vs. Khazar Lenkoran 2 pm est
Aggregate: 1-1
Possible opponent in next round: AIK Fotboll or FH (1-1)

Legia Warszawa vs. Liepajas Metalurgs 2:30 pm est
Aggregate: 2-2
Possible opponent in next round: Shakhtyor Salihorsk or SV Ried (1-1)

Lewandowski scores in friendly

Polish national team striker Robert Lewandowski scored a goal in Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 win over St.Gallen.

Lewandowski gave Borussia a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute. However, St. Gallen equalized in the 54th minute, before Kevin Grosskreutz scored the game-winner in the 84th minute.

All three Poles (Piszczek, Blaszczykowski and Lewandowski) started and played 45 minutes.

Here is Lewandowski's goal:

Slask struggle and lose but advance to next round of Champions League

Despite a 1-0 loss in the return leg today, Slask Wroclaw managed to advance to the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

The only goal of the game came in the 15th minute after Nikola Vukcevic's header found the back of the net off a corner kick.

Slask continued to struggle until the final whistle, but managed to keep it a one-goal game and advanced to the next round of the Champions League. Slask's next opponent will be Swedish league champions Helsingborg, who beat Welsh side The New Saints 3-0 on aggregate.

First leg vs. Helsingborg is set for Tuesday, July 31 in Wroclaw.

Slask: Marian Kelemen - Marcin Kowalczyk, Rafal Grodzicki, Mariusz Pawelec, Amir Spahic - Rok Elsner, Przemyslaw Kazmierczak - Mateusz Cetnarski (46. Waldemar Sobota), Sebastian Mila, Patrik Mraz (38. Sylwester Patejuk) - Lukasz Gikiewicz

Roma rout Zaglebie 4-0 in friendly

Italian powerhouse AS Roma scored all of its goals in a 40-minute span in the first half and cruised to a 4-0 win over Zaglebie Lubin at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Goals from Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, Erik Lamela, Bojan Krkic and Panagiotis Tachtsidis sealed the deal in the first half for AS Roma. Zaglebie did register seven shots on goal but could not beat Roma's goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

The attendance did not disappoint as about 22,181 fans came out to see the Polish club take on AS Roma at the first soccer match at baseball's Wrigley Field since 1984.

Here are the highlights:


Did anyone attend the game?

PSV wins Polish Masters, Slask comes in last

The first edition of Polish Masters came to an end on Sunday with PSV Eindhoven taking the title away from SL Benfica. Polish side Slask Wroclaw came in last place.

The four-team, two-day tournament began on Saturday with two semi-final match ups. PSV defeated Athletic Bilbao 1-0 and Benfica routed Slask Wroclaw 4-2, which set up a third place game between Slask and Athletic and the final between Benfica and PSV.

Slask Wroclaw came in last place thanks to a 1-0 loss to Athletic Bilbao. Markel Susaeta scored the winner. Meanwhile, in the final, PSV Eindhoven scored three unanswered goals to win 3-1 and claim the first ever Polish Masters. Polish keeper Przemyslaw Tyton was in net for the final.

Blaszczykowski scores in friendly; signs extension

Jakub Blaszczykowski scored a goal in Borussia Dortmund's 4-2 loss to FC Nuernberg.

The Polish trio came on in the 60th minute. Two minutes later, Blaszczykowski scored his first of pre-season.

Here is Blaszczykowski's goal:


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Also, Blaszczykowski signed a contract extension that will keep him with Borussia Dortmund until 2015.

Champions League draw set as Slask meets rival

A date in the Wales or Sweden awaits Slask Wroclaw in the next round of qualifications to the Champions League if they get passed Buducnost Podgorica.

UEFA Champions League drawing took place today, and Slask Wroclaw will play either Swedish Helsingborg or Welsh The New Saints in the third qualifying round. First leg between the two sides ended in a scoreless draw. Second leg is scheduled for July 25.

As for Slask, they won their first leg 2-0 and are surely looking to play in the third qualifying round.

The first legs will be played on July 31 and August 1, and the second legs will be played on August 7 and 8.

Swierczok to return to Poland after six months in Germany

Jakub Swierczok's dream ride in Germany will be cut short, for now.

According to reports, Swierczok will sign a one-year loan deal with newly-promoted Piast Gliwice. The deal will become official in the upcoming days after paperwork are compete.

Swierczok joined relegation-threated FC Kaiserslautern in early January. He made five appearances without finding the back of the net even once.

Ruch score late three times to win 3-1 in Europa League

Three goals in the late stages of the game turned out to be finishing touches in Ruch Chorzow's 3-1 win over FK Metalurg Skopje in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.

From the first minute to halftime, it was Ruch Chorzow under new coach Tomasz Fornalik, who controlled most of the possessions. In the 41st minute, Ruch had a decent chance to go up 1-nil, but Marek Zienczuk's penalty kick attempt hit the post and it remained scoreless at halftime.

Ruch felt behind in the 69th minute after Agron Memedi found the back of the net. However, five minute later, Arkadiusz Piech tied it up with a nice header over the opposing keeper. Exactly ten minutes later, Piech scored his second of the game -- another header, giving Ruch a 2-1 lead.

In stoppage time, Ruch took a 3-1 lead after Piotr Stawarczyk found the back of the net, inches away from the goal line after a scramble.

Second leg is scheduled for July 26 in Skopje, Macedonia.

Ruch Chorzow: Michal Peskovic - Zeljko Dokic, Piotr Stawarczyk, Maciej Sadlok, Marek Szyndrowski - Marek Zienczuk, Gabor Straka (57. Filip Starzynski), Marcin Malinowski, Lukasz Janoszka (62. Pavel Sultes) - Maciej Jankowski (77. Grzegorz Kuswik), Arkadiusz Piech.

Legia open Europa League with 2-2 draw

Legia Warszawa opened their Europa League campaign with a 2-2 draw against Liepajas Metalurgs.

It's not the result Legia were looking for in Jan Uraban's coaching debut, but the two away goals will be crucial in the return leg.

It was Legia who struck first in the game. Michal Kucharczyk finished off his run, with an easy one-on-one finish in the 20th minute. However, couple minutes before halftime, Liepajas pulled back with a goal of their own. Rytis Leliuga scored an easy header as Legia's defense fell asleep.

Two minutes after break, Legia took another lead, and this time around it was Jakub Kosecki who scored his first career goal in a Legia Warszawa shirt.

With a 2-1 lead, Legia got more help when Dzintars Zirnis was shown a second yellow card and was send off. However, even with 10-man, Liepajas managed to tie up the game. Inaki Astiz pulled down his rival and was called for a penalty kick in the 80th minute. Oskars Klava converted on the penalty.

Legia: Dusan Kuciak - Artur Jedrzejczyk, Michal Zewlakow, Inaki Astiz, Jakub Wawrzyniak - Jakub Kosecki, Daniel Lukasik (90. Dominik Furman), Janusz Gol (76. Danijel Ljuboja), Miroslav Radovic, Michal Zyro (69. Marek Saganowski) - Michal Kucharczyk.

Fornalik to complete coaching staff by next week

Poland national team head coach Waldemar Fornalik announced today that he'll complete his coaching staff by next week.

"The situation is dynamic. I've been talking with potential candidates, including Jerzy Dudek," Fornalik said today. "I'll announce my choices next week which then will need to be approved by the Polish Football Federation."

PZPN's approval deadline is set for August 2. Fornalik's first test with the Polish national team is against Estonia on August 15.

These past few days, Fornalik met with Frank Smuda's assistants -- Jacek Zielinski and Hubert Malowiejski. However, the favorites for the job are Marek Wlecialowski, currently an assistant at Slask Wroclaw and played with Fornalik at Ruch Chorozw, and Andrzej Dawidziuk, goalkeeping coach, who worked for the Polish national team under Leo Beenhakker.

Fornalik has also been talking with former Poland national team goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek about the possibility of him becoming the new Sporting Director of the Polish national team. Dudek is heavily interested in the job but an approval needs to be made by PZPN.

Fornalik is currently on a trip in Montenegro to watch Lech Poznan take on Buducnost Podgorica in the Champions League, and to get a better look at the stadium in which the Polish natioanl team will kick off its 2014 World Cup qualifying against Montenegro on September 7.

Europa League action for Thursday

Legia Warszawa at Liepajas Metalurgs (11 am est)
The Latvian side defeated La Fiorita 6-0 on aggregates in the first qualifying round.

Lech Poznan vs. Khazar Lenkoran (11 am est)
The Azerbaijani side defeated Nomme Kalju 4-2 on aggregates in the first qualifying round.

Ruch Chorzow vs. FK Metalurg Skopje (1 pm est)
The Macedonian side defeated Birkirkara FC 2-2 on away goals in the first qualifying round.  .

Slask defeat Podgorica 2-0 in Champions League opener

Polish league champions Slask Wroclaw opened their Champions League account with a flashy 2-0 win over Buducnost Podgorica in the Second qualifying round.

Despite early pressure and dangerous attacks from the Montenegrin league champions, it was Slask Wroclaw who found the back of the net first. Rok Elsner scored off a easy header in the 19th minute after Buducnost's defense were looking for an offsides call but didn't get it.

In the 49th minute, Slask Wroclaw were awarded a penalty kick after Admir Adrovic was called for a hand ball. Sebastian Mila stepped up and finished off but the referee called for a redo after one of Mila's teammates stepped into the penalty box too early. Mila stepped up again and scored to make it 2-0 for the visitors.

Buducnost were forced to play with 10-men with 10 minutes left in the game after Flavio Beck Junior was shown a red card for elbowing Lukasz Gikiewicz.

The return leg is set for July 25 in Wroclaw.

Slask Wroclaw: Marian Kelemen - Patrik Mraz, Mariusz Pawelec, Marcin Kowalczyk, Tadeusz Socha - Waldemar Sobota (89. Dalibor Stevanovic), Rok Elsner, Sebastian Mila, Przemyslaw Kazmierczak, Mateusz Cetnarski (71. Sylwester Patejuk) - Lukasz Gikiewicz (82. Cristian Omar Diaz).

KP Katowice to replace Polonia Warszawa in Ekstraklasa

It's official, after over 100 years in existence, Polonia Warszawa's era in the Ekstraklasa and Polish football has came to an end.

Polonia Warszawa's owner Jozef Wojciechowski has sold the club and the club's Ekstraklasa license to GKS Katowice. Under its terms, the two teams will be folded into a single club named KP Katowice.

Upper Silesia's regional FA have accepted new club KP Katowice and now, its only awaiting a decision from the Polish football association, which is expected to be announced on August 2, two weeks before the new season kicks off.

"GKS Katowice's players are already in pre-season training, and those who remain at Polonia will come down to the camp, starting from Wednesday," one of GKS Katowiec's official said.

Wojciechowski bought Polonia in 2006. After they were relegated in the same year, he controversially bought another club, Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski, in 2008 along with its berth in the first division, and folded the two teams together to return Polonia to the top flight.

Blaszczykowski named finalists for Best Player in Europe Award

Poland national team midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski was named as one of the 32-players on a long list for the 2011/2012 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, which will be presented in Monaco on August 30.

The award made its debut last year; Lionel Messi was the winner.

A jury of journalists from each of UEFA's 53 member associations has provided a list of their best-ranked players. The players are ordered from one to five, with the first receiving five points, the second four points and so on. On August 14, UEFA will reveal the three players with the most points overall from the first round of voting. hey will then proceed to the live vote in Monaco when the same journalists will use an electronic system to determine the winner from the three candidates.

Polsat's journalist Roman Kolton represents Poland in the voting.

Fornalik hired as Poland NT coach

Waldemar Fornalik was appointed the new head coach of the Polish national team on Tuesday, replacing Frank Smuda.

Fornalik, whose contract runs at least until the end of the World Cup 2014 qualifiers, will be at the helm in time for a friendly away to Estonia on August 15.

The 49-year-old Fornalik has coached Ruch Chorzow since 2009. He helped them finish third place in 2009-2010 and second place in 2011-2012, their highest placement in Ekstraklasa since winning the title in 1989. In his three years at Ruch, Fornalik also guided them to twice runner-up in the Polish Cup.

Lato said there were two other candidates, Jerzy Engel, who coached the national team in the 2002 World Cup, and Jacek Zielinski, Smuda's assistant. He said Fornalik received 11 votes, Engel three and Zielinski none. There was one abstention.

Lech Poznan 2, FC Zhetysu 0: Goal Highlights

Wojtkowiak scores winner in friendly

Polish national team defender Grzegorz Wojtkowiak buried home the game-winning goal in 1860 Munchen's 2-1 win over Grasshoppers in a friendly today.

Wojtkowiak, who signed with 1860 Munchen in April, headed the winner in the 26th minute off a free-kick. His team was down 1-0 since the 6th minute but managed to bounce back.

Wojtkowiak started and played 45 minutes.

Lech strike twice in Europa League opener

Lech Poznan started off their Europa League campaign on the right foot, thanks to a 2-0 win over FC Zhetysu.

The goals didn't come until the second half, but it was Lech Poznan who controlled most of the game. A comfortable 2-0 win in the first leg of the First qualifying round should allow Lech to advance easily to the next round.

With the departure of Artjoms Rudnevs, Lech's management brought in Gergo Lovrencsics to be his replacement. The 22-year-old Hungarian striker took over where Rudnevs left off.

In the 61st minute, Lovrencsics assisted on Rafal Murawski's goal to give Lech a 1-0 lead. Four minutes later, Lovrencsics scored one of his own, which is also is first goal as a member of Lech, giving his side a 2-0 lead.

The return leg will be played on July 12.

Lech: Krzysztof Kotorowski - Mateusz Mozdzen, Hubert Wolakiewicz, Marcin Kaminski, Luis Henriquez - Lukasz Tralka (54. Rafal Murawski), Szymon Drewniak - Gergo Lovrencsics, Sergei Krivets (46. Vojo Ubiparip), Aleksandar Tonev (84. Jacek Kielb) - Bartosz Slusarski

Preview: Lech Poznan vs. FC Zhetysu

Game time: 2:00 PM EST

After a year absence, Lech Poznan is returning to Europe.

Thanks to a fourth place finish in the Ekstraklasa, Lech Poznan will begin their Europa League campaign in the first qualifying round against Kazakh side FC Zhetysu.

FC Zhetysu will be making their Europa League debut thanks to a second place finish in the Kazakhstan Premier League. Ulugbek Bakaev, their 33-year-old striker, was the top scorer with 18 goals in the league last season.

As for Lech, they've made couple transactions since the season ended. The two obviously losses are Artjoms Rudnevs and Semir Stilic. Lech also decided not to offer new contracts to Marcin Kikut and Dimitrije Injac, who both left the club. Their captain Grzegorz Wojtkowiak also decided to leave on a free transfer to German side 1860 Munich.

But as players left, new ones came in. Lech managed to sign 23-year-old striker Gergo Lovrencsics on loan for the rest of the season. Also, Lukasz Tralka joined from Polonia Warszawa. Lech is also getting Jacek Kielb
back from Korona Kielce.

The game will not be televised on any Polish network, but I'll try to find some links.

Poland rises in latest FIFA rankings

After a winless Euro 2012, the Polish national team still managed to rise 8 spots in the latest FIFA rankings.

With two draws and a loss in the tournament, Poland still jumped from 62nd to 54th in the rankings, which also marks there highest rank since September 2009 when they were ranked 36th.

Poland's next opponent is Estonia, who are currently ranked 56th.

Poland's World Cup 2014 qualifying group is ranked as following: England 4th, Ukraine 46th, Montenegro 50th, Moldova 139th and San Marino 205th.

Pawlowski completes move to Udinese

Polish U-21 national team goalkeeper Wojciech Pawlowski has completed his move to Udinese, according to the Italian club's official website.

The 19-year-old agreed to a move away from Lechia Gdansk, where he was a first-choice keeper, in January. It is still not determined if Pawlowski will stay at Udinese or move on loan to Udinese's feeder club Watford in England or Granada in Spain.

Pawlowski made his Poland Under-21 debut in a 1-0 loss to Bulgaria in February.

Blaszczykowski to carry full last name on jersey next season

"Kuba" at Borussia Dortmund is coming to an end.

Starting for the new season, Jakub Blaszczykowski will carry his full last name on the back of Borussia Dortmund's jersey. He will no longer carry "Kuba".

The desicion was made after finding out that Borussia Dortmund will be playing in new jerseys starting next season. In the past, the letters of his last name could not find on the back of the jersey.

Just because "Kuba" will no longer be on the back on his jersey, that doesn't mean he'll be leaving anything soon. According to German reports, Blaszczykowski will sign a contract extension with Borussia when he returns from his vacation. His current contract expires in June 2013.

Pepsi Arena to host Polish SuperCup

Pepsi Arena in Warszawa will host the 2012 Polish SuperCup between league champions Slask Wroclaw and cup champions Legia Warszawa on August 12th, Ekstraklasa SA announced on Monday.

The Polish SuperCup hopes to be back in full swing after the 2011 match between Wisla Krakow and Legia Warszawa was suspended after couple stadium sites decided they don't want to host the match. First, the city of Ostroda canceled the match after fan safety was taken under consideration. Them, the National Stadium was supposed to host the SuperCup but the stadium was not ready.

The Polish SuperCup is annually held match between the champion of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winner. To this date the Polish SuperCup has been played out 21 times with the Polish Cup winner taking the trophy 13 times, while the Ekstraklasa champions had won the trophy 8 times.