England striker Andy Carroll under attack by Poland's Zbigniew Boniek ahead of World Cup qualifier

Andy Carroll was ridiculed upon his arrival here with England on Monday night by Zbigniew Boniek, the legendary former Juventus striker who is expected to become the next president of Poland’s Football Association.

Under attack: Andy Carroll has been criticised by Zbigniew Boniek

 Boniek, who was named by Pele as one of the greatest 100 players of all-time, mocked Carroll’s ungainly playing style and said that his eight-year-old grandson, Mateo, was more elegant than Liverpool’s £35 million record signing.

 

“My grandson Mateo moves better on the pitch than Andy Carroll,” said Boniek. “Mateo is very good at golf and tennis. He has better co-ordination.”

England were also greeted with a warning about the playing surface at Warsaw’s spectacular national stadium, which is relaid before every set of internationals.

“There may be situations which are quite unpredictable,” said Waldemar Fornalik, the Poland coach. “The ball can perhaps bounce unpredictably and the players can be slipping. It is just something we have to cope with. It is the same for both teams.”

The deeper narrative, though, has been one of disharmony within the Polish FA after Poland’s failure to win a match as joint host nation at Euro 2012. In Friday’s 1-0 friendly win against South Africa, there were loud insults for their outgoing FA president Grzegorz Lato and Fornalik has recently replaced Franciszek Smuda as the coach.

Although the playing style is now regarded as less expansive, the early results have been reasonable and Poland have begun their World Cup qualifying campaign with four points from two matches although Jakub Blaszczykowski, their captain, is unavailable tonight. The rivalry with England has captured the public’s imagination and all 56,000 tickets were sold within 24 hours of going on sale.

“This is quite an event this year in Polish football,” said Fornalik. “The Euros were a huge event on a European, if not a global, scale and this match is similar. Poland versus England has always been of big importance.”

Poland have not beaten England since 1973 but Marcin Wasilewski, who will captain the team tonight, also spoke yesterday of a desire to make up for the disappointments at Euro 2012. There was also a mildly more diplomatic assessment of Carroll. “We know he is tall and well built – he does all right in the air, with the fights,” said Wasilewski. “He plays the ball with his head well. We are all aware of England’s high quality