Poland (5) v (3) Ethiopia
By Daniel Wood
POLAND remain top of group C and one of the teams to beat in the 2008 Homeless World Cup after edging a tightly-matched battle against Ethiopia.
Although they have won only one of their four matches, Ethiopia gave Poland a run for their money, falling short 5-3 in a heated contest.
The opening proved that teams don't come much more evenly matched than these two; the score remaining deadlocked, 0-0.
Poland’s Tomasz Rudyk of Poland was the first to address the nil-all scoreline with a cracking shot across goal. Ethiopia was quick to reply, however, with their impressive equaliser getting the crowd cheering.
No doubt the fans could see the concentration on the players' faces as they struggled to outsmart their opponents. Finally, a shot from mid-pitch by Rudyk allowed Poland to creep ahead, 2-1.
One of Ethiopia's star strikers found himself on the receiving end of a well-timed pass and wasted no time in sending the ball straight to the back of the net to finish the first half 2-2.
The opening of the second half was near identical to first, with both teams desperately searching for a weak spot in the opposing side's defence.
Managers began to substitute players in an attempt to give their team the edge, but with both teams excelling in defence and attack this was proving difficult.
Poland's Marcin Zakowski broke the stalemate with a powerful right-foot shot, for 3-2. Zakowski followed quickly with another goal: 4-2. Inspired by their sudden two goal buffer, Poland began to push forward. Zakowski was on fire as he slammed another home for Poland.
At 5-2 Ethiopia had their work cut out for them but were motivated by an energetic crowd chanting "Eth-i-op-ia!" and managed to sneak in one more goal before full time.
Photos: Photoworx
