Wojciech Zuziak
Fans of the Polish national football team are waiting for the selection of a new coach. As usual, journalists throw out many different names of candidates, some confirmed by the Polish Football Association, and some are the product of media considerations. Among the potential coaches, there are 2 former coaches: Jerzy Brzęczek and Adam Nawałka. Many fans would like Nawałka, because he was the last coach during whose term our team played nicely and effectively. The question is, however, whether returning to the predecessors is a good idea? The Greek philosopher Heraclitus used to say that "you can't step into the same river twice". How does it look among coaches? I will give a few examples of coaches returning to their old positions. At least those that come to mind. I will start from the Polish backyard. Antoni PiechniczekOne of the 2 coaches in the history of the national team, who achieved real success with the team, such as a medal in a major senior event. He first led the team in the years 1981-1986. These years resulted in 2 qualifications to the World Cup, where we took 3rd and 14th place. He is the only coach to have qualified with our team twice to the World Cup. It is true that there were exceptionally unsuccessful qualifications for Euro 1984 along the way. However, despite this, the medal won in difficult conditions gives him a unique place (in a positive sense) in the history of our team. And 2 qualifications to the World Cup in our reality are also a considerable achievement. After 10 years, he took over the team again. However, the period 1996-1997 was very unsuccessful. Not even a year passed between the first and last match (2 days were missing). Only 3 wins: against Moldova, Cyprus and Latvia. Very poor qualifications for the 1998 World Cup and loss of chances to qualify already 3 rounds before the end of the qualifications. Clearly a negative return.
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