[SCOUTING REPORT] No European team has faced the USA more than Poland, which will co-host Euro 2012 with Ukraine but is reeling after back-to-back blowout losses that have put the future of Coach Franciszek Smuda, a former NASL player, in doubt. The Poles will renew their rivalry with the USA when they meet in a friendly match on Oct. 9 at Chicago's Soldier Field (TV: Fox Soccer Channel/Univision, live, 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET).

Poland will co-host the 2012 European Championship along with Ukraine and therefore doesn't have to take part in qualifying.

In their first game of the 2010-11 campaign, the Poles fell at home to Cameroon, 3-0.

That result came on the heels of a 6-0 loss to Spain before the World Cup, leaving Smuda, who played for Oakland, Los Angeles and San Jose in the NASL, in big trouble.

"Maybe it wasn't as bad as in our last friendly against Spain when we lost 6-0, but this was still painful," said captain Michael Zewlakow afterward the Cameroon game.

Poland, who will host Ukraine and Australia in September, failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after reaching the finals at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008.

Smuda started only four holdovers from the Euro 2008 squad against Cameroon -- Lukasz Fabianski in goal, Zewlakow in the back and Dariusz Dudka and Rafal Murawski in midfield.

Three of the starters -- defenders Kamil Glik and
Maciej Sadlok and forward Robert Lewandowski -- and two subs -- Adam Matuszczyk and Maciej Rybus -- were 22 or younger.

USA-POLAND. The series is tied at 7-7-2 in 14 meetings dating back to 1924.

In the early 1970s, when the U.S. national team program was a part-time operation, Poland was its most frequent opponent.

Since losing to the Poles, 3-1, at the 2002 World Cup, the USA is unbeaten in four meetings (three wins and a tie).

The most recent encounter in the United States came six years ago when Carlos Bocanegra equalized in the 88th minute to lift the U.S. to a 1-1 tie in front of nearly 40,000 fans in Chicago, home to the nation's largest Polish community.
 
POLAND (vs. Cameroon)
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal)
sub: Przemyslaw Tyton (Roda JC)
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)
sub: Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)
Michal Zewlakow (Ankaragucu)
Kamil Glik (Palermo)
Maciej Sadlok (Ruch Chorzow)
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)
Dariusz Dudka (Auxerre)
sub: Adam Matuszczyk (FC Cologne)
Rafal Murawski (Rubin Kazan)
sub: Adrian Mierzejewski (Polonia Warsaw)
Ludovic Obraniak (Lille)
sub: Slawomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)
Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)
sub: Maciej Rybus (Legia Warsaw)