Franciszek Smuda, manager of the Polish national football team now competing in the Euro 2012 finals, congratulated his players after their 1-1 draw with Greece yesterday.

Smuda said that things could have been worse but their draw has kept them in the game and a greater battle awaits. “We must concentrate on the next game and try to come away with a win,” he said.

Smuda noted that the initial pressure and stress of playing in such a tournament had impacted his young team.

“During half-time, we had planned to keep up the pressure on the opponent, but it turned out that we found ourselves retreating. The Greeks had nothing to lose. We saw how some of our players were paralyzed under pressure.”

Greek head coach Fernando Santos also congratulated his players after the match. The team scored a goal with just 10 players and could have gone on to win.

“If we put aside the first 20 minutes, when we weren’t playing according t our plan, I am pretty satisfied,” Santos said. “All the guys played well. We just didn’t get into our rhythm at the start. We knew that the Poles would come out quite aggressively and I warned my players. We also knew that the Poles were able to create problems for us and the game finished on a goal struck as a result of one of many sharp attacks.”

Santos said that his players had shown a great deal of character and had they converted the penalty, the game would have been over.  The Portuguese coach sad his team played better in the second half.

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