Poland

Poland v England 1-1 official highlights: Road To Rio World Cup Qualifier

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• published: 17 Oct 2012
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England collected a point in Poland at the second attempt on Wednesday, as their World Cup qualifiers in 2012 were brought to an end in Warsaw. Following the initial postponement of the game on Tuesday evening due to a waterlogged pitch, the teams finally managed to meet less than 24 hours later, with the National Stadium roof in place this time, to share the points. And that ensured Roy Hodgson's men end the year on top of Group H after Wayne Rooney's first-half header was cancelled out by an almost carbon-copy goal from Kamil Glick with 20 minutes remaining. It was a sluggish match at times, with neither side ever getting into full stride. But given the pattern of play for large parts of the game and with a passionate home crowd behind Poland throughout, Hodgson and his men will be happy to leave Warsaw with a result under their belts. After a high-tempo start from the hosts, Poland's first chance came when Jakub Wawrzyniak pulled a low cross back into the area for Kamil Grosicki, but his mis-hit shot was blocked by Joleon Lescott and the danger was cleared. Joe Hart then made a brave block four minutes later to deny Lukascz Pisczek. Subscribe to the official YouTube channel of the England football team featuring exclusive news, match highlights and more at http://www.youtube.com/england To find out more about the England team log on to: http://www.thefa.com/england Become a fan of England on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/EnglandTeam And follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/FA ENGLAND MANAGER'S REACTION AFTER WORLD CUP QUALIFIER IN POLAND IS RAINED OFF ROY HODGSON expressed his disappointment after England's World Cup qualifier with Poland was postponed due to torrential rain. Horrendous weather saw FIFA delay the start to the match before it was ultimately called off 45 minutes after it was due to kick-off in Warsaw. The game has been rescheduled for 5pm tomorrow (4pm UK time) and Three Lions boss Hodgson revealed his relief at seeing the clash rearranged so quickly. He said: "I think it's the only decision that could have been made. There are no other possibilities - you can't find dates at international level - the dates that are available are all taken up. "You can't just suddenly decide we'll play at another time so you have to try and organise things and get the game played as quickly as possible. "The players are disappointed because when you have a game in the evening you spend a long day preparing for it. "We're unhappy about it but what can we do? These are acts of God - no one can decide whether it's going to rain or not - we just have to live with the situation. "We're disappointed, we prepared well for tonight, as no doubt the Poles have too, but now we've got to do it all over again and hopefully we'll be as prepared tomorrow as we were tonight." When asked how he felt about the roof not being closed at the National Stadium, Hodgson said: "I had no idea about how bad the conditions were going to be - I've been in a hotel getting the players prepared for the game. "But it's up to the people whose responsibility it is to run the stadium for them to decide when the roof needs to be on, or if it needs to be on. "No one will be more disappointed than them that the roof hadn't gone on and the pitch was playable. "But they will have to unfortunately pay the price for that because tomorrow it might be more difficult to get the crowd into the stadium. "A 5pm kick-off on a Wednesday afternoon might be more difficult for them." He added: "I'm rather hoping they'll get the roof closed as quickly as possible and start to do some work on the pitch because at the moment it is in a very poor condition. "The water is lying on the surface and it's going to need a lot of attention if it's going to be playable tomorrow afternoon." Meanwhile, England striker Wayne Rooney thanked the traveling England fans for their support despite them being left disappointed by the decision to postpone the match. He tweeted: "Thanks to the England fans who came tonight. Sorry we couldn't come out of the tunnel to see you but we all really appreciate your support." Meanwhile, the Poland FA confirmed tickets issued for tonight's match will be valid for tomorrow.