TEAM COMPOSITION

POL / Poland - Team Composition

Team manager	TOMASZEWSKI Hubert
Head coach	ANASTASI Andrea
Assistant coach	GARDINI Andrea
Doctor	MARON Wieslaw
Therapist / trainer	BIELECKI Aleksander
Journalist	SWEDROWSKI Tomasz

	No.	Name	Lastname	Shirt Name	Birthdate	Height	Weight	Spike	Block
	1	Piotr	Nowakowski	Nowakowski	18.12.1987	205	90	355	340
	2	Michal	Winiarski	Winiarski	28.09.1983	200	82	345	332
	5	Pawel	Zagumny	Zagumny	18.10.1977	200	88	336	317
	6	Bartosz	Kurek	Kurek	29.08.1988	205	87	352	326
	7	Jakub	Jarosz	Jarosz	10.02.1987	195	84	353	328
	9	Zbigniew	Bartman	Bartman	04.05.1987	198	95	352	320
	13	Michal	Kubiak	Kubiak	23.02.1988	191	80	328	312
	14	Michal	Ruciak	Ruciak	22.08.1983	189	75	336	305
	15	Lukasz	Zygadlo	Zygadlo	02.08.1979	200	89	337	325
	16	Krzysztof	Ignaczak	Ignaczak	15.05.1978	188	86	330	315
	17	Pawel	Zatorski	Zatorski	21.06.1990	184	73	328	304
C	18	Marcin	Mozdzonek	Mozdzonek	09.02.1985	211	93	358	338
	19	Patryk	Czarnowski	Czarnowski	01.11.1985	201	85	355	335
	20	Lukasz	Wisniewski	Wisniewski	03.02.1989	198	96	345	323

C=Captain L=Libero

Team profile

Poland boasts a strong volleyball tradition and the country's national team has been among the elite teams since its appearance at the first FIVB World Championship in 1949. The fourth- place result there was repeated in France in 1956 and again in Brazil in 1960, but the best was yet to come. From the mid-1970s, the Polish squad dominated the international volleyball scene. They triumphed at the FIVB World Championship in 1974 and took gold again at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

Poland have gone from strength to strength in recent years, led by the core group of players from the successful 1997 FIVB junior world champions and headed by top coaches Raul Lozano and Daniel Castellani. They won silver at the FIVB World Championship 2006 and gold at the 2009 European Championship.

After a disappointing FIVB World Championship 2010, where they finished 16th, they set out on a path of revival under one of the world’s best coaches, the Italian Andrea Anastasi, who proved his worth by leading the team to bronze at the FIVB World League 2011. His influence extended to the European Championship where Poland also collected bronze. Poland are now looking for more of the same success after being granted a wild card for the FIVB World Cup 2011.

Coach profile

Poland have been revitalised since Italian Andrea Anastasi took over from Daniel Castellani in February, steering them to the bronze medal in this year’s FIVB World League. Anastasi played 141 matches for Italy, picking up the FIVB World Championship and FIVB World League titles in 1990 before beginning his coaching career in 1994. He coached Italy from 1999 to 2002, winning the FIVB World League 1999, and in 2006 became the coach of Spain, leading them to a first European Championship in 2007, before returning to Italy from 2007 to 2010.