Two wins needed

From its perch at the top of its qualifying group, with seven games behind it, Poland is jumping into the second half of the Euro 2008 qualifying round with two away matches against Azerbaijan and Armenia. Wins in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 2 and on June 6 in Yerevan, Armenia, will greatly boost Poland's chances of reaching the European Championship for the first time in the tournament's history.

Poland currently leads its group and is five points ahead of Portugal, Serbia and Finland, who all have a game in hand. But with Finland taking on Serbia and Portugal toughing it out against Belgium, there's a strong chance that some of Poland's rivals will lose points.

Poland beat Armenia 1-0 and Azerbaijan 5-0 in March at home, but that doesn't mean that the upcoming matches will be easy. Both teams have proven that they are capable of causing upsets at home - Azerbaijan surprisingly upset Finland, while Armenia managed a draw against the Scandinavian team.

But the Polish team will hope to extend their run of victories to seven. After a slow start to its qualifying campaign - a loss to Finland and a draw at home to Serbia - Poland won five consecutive games, including a 2-1 win against Portugal, a team which came in fourth in last year's World Cup. Poland needs to earn six points against the two teams from the Caucasus in order to shore up its position for future battles - this autumn the national team will face tough away games in Portugal, Finland and Serbia.