Poland qualifies for European football championships

Poland beat Belgium 2:0 during the Euro2008 qualifying game on Saturday and for the first time in history has managed to qualify to the European Championships. The match took place at the Silesian Stadium in front of 50,000 Polish fans. Euzebiusz Smolarek scored both goals, bringing his total to nine goals for the qualifiers, and making him Poland's sports hero of the year. "We have made it to the football paradise," said the coach of the Polish national team Leo Beenhakker, although he went on to add that he was not very impressed with the way the team was playing. For qualifying to the European Championships, which will take place next year in Switzerland and Austria, the players will receive a combined total of US$1.5 million. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1; Rzeczpospolita, p. A1; Dziennik, p. 1) A.K.