Engel waits for job verdict

Poland were given a warm welcome on their return

By Gosia and Piotr Kowalczyk

The Polish Football Association will decide the future of coach Jerzy Engel on Wednesday.

The decision was initially scheduled for Friday but has been moved forward by 48 hours when the Polish FA's training department will meet to assess the team's performance at the World Cup.

An announcement will be made on Thursday.

Engel presided over a disappointing campaign in which his team finished bottom of their group.

They lost to South Korea and Portugal, before claiming a consolation victory over the United States.

Former national goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski believes Engel should keep his job.

Engel led Poland to their first finals since 1986

Profile: Jerzy Engel

Tomaszewski said that the team owed their place in the Far East to the 50-year-old, claiming that after their qualification, Engel recieved no help.

He also blamed the Polish FA who "completely lost control over the team" in the countdown to the finals.

There have been rumours that Engel is in conflict with Henryk Apostel - vice-president of the Polish FA.

Apostel denies that there is a conflict, but does not hide his displeasure at Engel's coaching.

"After the first game against South Korea I said there should be three or four changes. The match against the USA showed I was right.

Engel extended his contract through to the 2004 European championships before the World Cup.

But a a member of the FA's nine-man panel, who wanted to remain anonymous, confessed that it would be best if the coach resigned.

Despite their poor showing after a 16-year wait, the team received a surprisingly warm welcome on their return to Poland.

More than 3,000 supporters welcomed the squad at Warsaw's Okecie airport.

Coach's job on the line

"The Polish fans are wonderful," Polish FA chairman Michal Listkiewicz said.

"We came back uncertain of how the fans were going to receive us," Engel added.

Listkiewicz also confirmed that the team's performance would be assessed by the training department on Wednesday.

"We will analyse our performance in Korea and decide what's going to happen with the team and the players," he said.