Euro 2012: Smuda believes pressure got to Poland’s players

POLAND coach Franciszek Smuda admitted some of his players wilted under the pressure in yesterday’s dramatic 1-1 draw against Greece.

Speaking after the Euro 2012 opener, Smuda said: “I told the players to cheer up, it would have been much worse if we had lost. It is not the end, the tournament is still open.

“Greece are a very experienced team and it is difficult to score against them. It was difficult when we lost the goalkeeper. The situation changed because of the red card.

“The Greeks had nothing to lose. They tried and they scored. We now have a few days and we will analyse the match and decide on the 11 for next time. We could see some of the players were paralysed by the pressure.”

Greek coach Fernando Santos insisted Sokratis Papastathopoulos was harshly dismissed – the defender was sent off after receiving two yellow cards – but refused to criticise Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo.

He said: “When Sokratis (Papastathopoulos) was sent off it wasn’t justified but still we succeeded in keeping on the pressure. I totally accept the decision of the referee but it was a difficult situation for us. We were confident and thought we could get in the game again.

“In the end both teams were tired but tried to create chances and we had the best in the second half.”

Greek captain Giorgos Santos missed a penalty in the second half but Santos refused to blame the player, saying: “He has scored in the past, this is football.”