World Cup 2006 Qualifying/ Northern Ireland 0; Poland 3: Many moons ago Alexander Bocheski wrote a book called The History of Stupidity in Poland. Between the hours of five and eight on Saturday night it felt like England would have to add a new chapter on Wednesday if they were to lose to the prosaic Poland team that won this dirge of a game.
But Austria's late goals and Poland's modest but rising self-belief means that England may have to be only average to succumb in Chorzow.
"We're feeling confident again," said Liverpool's Jerzy Dudek, Poland's highest-profile player, of this workmanlike Polish team that possesses a reasonable spine and a little embroidery on the right wing in the form of Bayer Leverkusen's Jacek Krzynowek, who scored the third goal here against an embarrassed Northern Ireland side.
That was in the 57th minute and Krzynowek was then withdrawn. He was not injured.
Lawrie Sanchez's players had lost heart and shape by then. In fact, they had lost it inside four minutes when Maciej Zurawski's corner was allowed to fly straight in courtesy of Damien Johnson's unaccountable decision to duck on the line rather than head the ball away.
An equally baffling misjudgment by Stephen Craigan shortly before half-time gifted Piotr Wlodarczyk the freedom to make it 2-0.
But the scale of the Irish collapse made it difficult to gauge Poland's qualities. Sanchez said the difference between his team and the Poles was in the finishing - "Otherwise we matched them in general play" - but he also said that England's extra attacking dimension should ensure a similar difference between them and Poland.
Good news for England is that Wlodarczyk is suspended having been shown a straight red card for swinging a blow at Mark Williams 11 minutes from the end.
Poland's later opponents in Group Six will take hope from Northern Ireland's three clear chances. Johnson spurned the first after good work by David Healy. The other two came late and fell to the captain Aaron Hughes. Dudek saved the first and Hughes then showed a defender's instinct to nod the second wide.
Hughes was distraught at the end and not just because of those opportunities. This was meant to be the dawn of a new Irish era.
There was a sell-out crowd and the request to turn Windsor Park into a "Sea of Green" resulted in Belfast's sports shops running out of replica shirts.
The optimism lasted three minutes and, as Northern Ireland then delivered the worst display in memory, serious seasickness set in. They now travel to Cardiff even more hesitant than the English will be in Poland.
Guardian Service
NORTHERN IRELAND: Taylor, Aaron Hughes, Craigan, Williams, Capaldi, Elliott (McVeigh 62), Johnson, Whitley, Michael Hughes (Jones 53), Quinn (Smith 73), Healy. Subs Not Used: Carroll, Murdock, Clyde, Gillespie. Booked: Williams, Capaldi.
POLAND: Dudek, Mila (Radomski 75), Rzasa, Zewlakow, Glowacki, Bak, Zienczuk, Krzynowek (Gorawski 67), Zurawski (Kryszalowicz 84), Lewandowski, Wlodarczyk. Subs Not Used: Boruc, Klos, Rasiak, Baszcyznski. Sent Off: Wlodarczyk (79).
Referee: Jan Wegereef (Holland).
