A famous draw inspires the Poles

Associated with Indias last-gasp fumble at the Sydney Olympics,the team hopes for an encore

He may have slipped under the radar of the India team. But current Poland skipper Dariusz Rachwalski has close links to the side which came back to earn a 1-1 draw in the dying minutes of the Sydney Olympics and deny India a place in the semifinals. Before India failed to gain a Olympic berth in 2008,that last league match was perhaps their biggest disappointment.

Nearly twelve years later,India could play a potential banana skin-game against Poland in their last league encounter before the final of the Olympic qualifiers that begin here from Saturday.

Polish captain Rachwalski prefers to live in the present but he can reel off tales about their best performance in modern Olympics.

Rachwalskis cousin,Zbigniew Juszczak,played in that game. But he has heard stories of that famous 1-1 draw from other sources too.

We are a family of hockey players. My father Zbigniew played more than 200 games for Poland; my elder brother Krzysztof is the chief coach of the womens team here; my cousin Miroslaw Juszczak is a key member of our team here; and Miroslaws elder brother Zbigniew played in 2000. So we did get to hear a lot about those games and saw their videos and I think it was perhaps our best performance in modern Olympics, Dariusz says.

Though none of the players from the current Poland team played in Sydney,everyone recalls seeing the game on television. We try not to think of it (2000),nor of the 0-7 loss to India during the Champions Challenge recently. It doesnt help, added the 28-year-old Rachwalski.

Miroslaw has heard as many stories from that game as Rachwalski has,maybe more. My brother played in 2000 and he told me how much pressure there was in that last league match. I mean,there was no way we could have advanced but then… we were playing India,and for us playing India is always a big game and means a lot to the fans back home, Miroslaw said.

The big game

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Miroslaw remembers Zbigniew telling him about the teams preparations ahead of that game in 2000. The team was confident because we had beaten Spain in the first game 4-1. So there was a belief in the side. Before the game they were tense and excited, recalled Miroslaw from what Zbigniew had told him. Miroslaw watched that game on television.

After the game,which I saw on television,my brother and everyone else walked out with pride,and we could see that. Coming back in last seconds to hold India remains special, he adds.

Asked about the teams chances here,Miroslaw said: I have played with and against Pakistan players in the Dutch league and they are real tough to get past. I can safely say that Indian players are equally skilled and tough.

India are obviously the favourites but we are looking at the first two games. If we win them,which we can,then the last league match against India may well be a critical pre-final,which means the pressure may just be on India in front of home crowds, he says.

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Given that Poland have failed to make it to the summer Olympics since 2000,Does he think Poland can do a Sydney all over again here? Maybe. I hope our team can do well. Keeping fingers crossed. After all,anything is possible.