Goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek must get his mind off 10 days of media hype around Liverpool's Champions League win and back on Saturday's World Cup qualifier away to Azerbaijan, Polish coach Pawel Janas said on Friday.
Dudek's "spaghetti legs" penalty shootout heroics against AC Milan in Istanbul have made him a permanent fixture on Poland's front pages in the last week, helped by his return home soon after the game and speculation over his future at Liverpool.
"The lad's been giving interviews non-stop for the past 10 days," Janas told state news agency PAP. "I don't know if he's capable of concentrating on the match. It worries me."
After six games Poland are one point behind leaders England in European Group Six and a win in Baku would put them two points clear until the next qualifiers in September.
Janas' sole injury worry is a calf strain to Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Jacek Krzynowek, widely seen as the Poles' most consistent performer in the qualifiers.
"Luckily we have other choices on the left of midfield, but for sure the loss of Krzynowek will complicate things," Janas said.
His only other dilemma is whether to play Wisla Krakow striker Tomasz Frankowski or NEC Nijmegen's Andrzej Niedzielan alongside Maciej Zurawski up front.
Frankowski is the team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals but has struggled for form in the last weeks of a domestic league race which Krakow effectively sewed up by mid-April.
Poland demolished Azerbaijan 8-0 in Warsaw in March but are worried by the prospect of a hot and humid June evening in Baku, where only England have emerged with full points so far.
"The difficult climate, their thirst for revenge and home advantage (are our main worries)," Janas said.
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