In the film Pilkarski Poker (Football Poker), made in Poland in 1988, a former Polish footballer, who scored two goals for the Soviet-Russian team in the 1950s, is confronted with the question of whether he had “permission” at the time. of the authorities of communist Poland, subordinate to Moscow, to win against the Soviet Union (USSR).
Despite being a comedy, the film reveals the fear of the power of the so-called ‘sister nation’, as the Polish communist elite used to call the Russians. For both parties, the period of establishment of the first independent union of the Eastern Bloc, called Solidarnosc (Solidarity), was particularly complicated.
The union tried to democratize Poland, subordinate to the Kremlin, in the early 1980s. A month before the registration of the anti-communist workers’ organization, an Olympic pole vault competition took place in Moscow. In the final confrontation, on July 30, 1980, after a fierce fight, the Pole Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz defeated the Russian Konstantin Volkov, breaking the world record and after the successful jump made an attacking gesture to the Russian audience who whistled at him. .
“Kozakiewicz’s cuff” quickly became a symbol of disobedience to the Kremlin regime. The seemingly trivial situation led to diplomatic tensions. The Polish authorities, embarrassed, tried to explain the situation with an alleged muscle cramp of the athlete after the jump, which did not convince the offended Russian authorities. The USSR ambassador in Warsaw, Boris Aristov, demanded that Kozakiewicz be stripped of his gold medal. Ultimately, his passport was confiscated.
Mlynarczyk in goal, solidarity in the stands
A few months after Kozakiewicz’s gesture, Polish footballers qualified for the FIFA World Cup in Spain, where they faced Soviet Russia on their way to the semi-finals of the tournament. At that time, Poland was under martial law, imposed by the regime subordinate to the Kremlin.
General Wojciech Jaruzelski’s military junta abolished many civil liberties and banned the Solidarity trade union. Meanwhile, his name appeared on flags and banners displayed by fans during the match between the USSR and Poland, on July 4, 1982, at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona. The television station, obedient to the communist authorities, interrupted the broadcast several times whenever the word “Solidarity” appeared on the screens.
The match between the “sister countries” ended in a goalless draw, which meant passage for Poland to the semi-finals of the World Cup, with goalkeeper Józef Mlynarczyk proving to be one of the heroes of the match. Four years later, the player would join the FC Porto team.
40 years ago in Wroclaw
A year after the World Cup in Spain, in 1983, the Russians took revenge on the Polish team in Moscow, winning 2-0 in a qualifying match for Euro 1984. In Group 2, consisting of Poland, Finland, USSR and Portugal, the last two teams the dispute.
Although the battle was exciting until the end, on October 28, 1983, exactly 40 years ago, in the penultimate round of the qualifying matches, the Soviets were almost certain that they would qualify for the European Championship before the match between Poland and Portugal . They even sent a delegation of Communist Party authorities from Moscow to Wroclaw, together with the USSR’s Deputy Judge Sergei Mosiagin.
Success was close. All it took was a draw for the Poles in front of their home crowd, which seemed like a formality considering the Eagles hadn’t lost a game at home in two years. In the end, however, the hosts could not count on a draw and on the crowd.
In the 32nd minute, there was a shout of joy in the Polish-dominated stands after Carlos Manuel’s goal. Ultimately the white-reds lost 0-1. “I (and my colleagues) were applauded… because I lost the match,” Iwan said. The former striker also admitted that before the clash with Portugal, he and his teammates had received refrigerators from the (now non-existent) Polar company in Wroclaw, very valuable products during Poland’s communist era.
Cabrita wines
“I wonder (…) for what purpose was this gift (from Polar) presented? What would we gain or lose? Something makes me believe that we fulfilled the donor’s wish completely by accident,” recalls the old player himself, who died in December 2022.
Already in the first hours after the defeat, a long list of questions arose among Polish commentators about the attitude of the national team. Journalists noted that, compared to the starting eleven of the “Eagles” at the World Cup in Spain, the coach of the third team in the world released seven outstanding players, including such stars as Wladyslaw Zmuda, Zbigniew Boniek and Grzegorz Lato. But to this day, former national coach Antoni Piechniczek rejects all non-sporting reasons for his side’s defeat against the Portuguese side led by Fernando Cabrita.
The coach claims that after the match the media “created a myth” that Poland lost on purpose to irritate the Russians. “There was no conversation between us about the possibility of losing the match,” emphasizes Piechniczek, who guarantees that he was a friend of USSR coach Valeriy Lobanovskiy, and that he did not consider “foul play”.
“After our defeat in Moscow, which took away our chance of qualifying, Cabrita came to me and handed me a bottle of port wine. Lobanowskiy received the same. Therefore, it did not bring us any advantage,” the coach explained.
The win in Wroclaw brought the Portuguese closer to the Soviet team, topping the table with nine points. This meant that the USSR could not lose in the last match played in Lisbon on November 13, 1983. In the end, however, the Russians were defeated 1–0 and Cabrita’s team, which won the qualifications by 10 points, qualified Portugal for the European Championship for the first time.
Source: DN
