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Goalkeeper Dudek back for Poland

SoccerNews in World Cup 25 Sep 2009

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Real Madrid goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek has been recalled by out-of-the-running Poland for their two remaining 2010 World Cup qualifiers, after Dutchman Leo Beenhakker was sacked as coach, the Polish FA announced Friday.

Dudek, 36, remains iconic for his Champions League-winning penalty shoot-out performance with Liverpool in 2005 but has been out of favour with the national team over the past three years.

Glasgow Celtic’s Artur Boruc was Beenhakker’s goalkeeper of choice, but found himself under fire because of some nightmare performances during the Poles’ botched drive to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa

Beenhakker, 67, was sacked on September 10, a day after Poland crashed 3-0 away to Slovenia.

The Slovenia game, which came after a sloppy 1-1 draw at home to Northern Ireland, left Poland second-from-bottom of Group Three and mathematically unable to catch up in their two remaining games against leaders Slovakia and the Czech Republic next month.

Beenhakker — formerly at the helm of the Dutch national team, Real Madrid, Ajax and Feyenoord — became the first foreigner in charge of Poland when he was appointed in July 2006 to shake up the side after their first-round exit from the World Cup in Germany.

Former Poland international Stefan Majewski, 53, is currently acting as caretaker boss. He is a throwback to the glory days of Polish football, having been on the team that finished third at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Poland’s failed World Cup drive is a worry because after their Czech and Slovak games, they will not have another competitive match until 2012 — as they qualify automatically as co-hosts along with Ukraine of that year’s European championships.

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