Fabiański in awe of Germany No13

Goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański sees fellow London resident Michael Ballack as the main threat to Poland in their Group B opener against Germany in Klagenfurt on Sunday.

Big-game player
Arsenal FC's Fabiański has yet to face Ballack in English club football, having made only eight appearances for Arsène Wenger's side last season and none against Chelsea FC, but he knows from Premier League experience just how vital Ballack can be to the cause. "Ballack is a key player for Germany," Fabiański told euro2008.com. "He's a great player and he plays well in the big games. He is an opponent of real quality. You see some players who only stand out in the easy matches for club or country, but someone like Ballack proves over and over again how good he is by playing well in the matches that really matter, whether that's for Germany or Chelsea.

Broad base
"I think the secret for Germany is that they do not rely on one or two big names and big stars. They have a very good squad and a very strong team, but Ballack is probably the biggest name they have," added the 23-year-old former Legia Warszawa keeper. "But we can't just focus on him, or on any other Germany player, as we have to keep focused on ourselves if we want to win this game. Everyone in Poland is talking about the Germany team, who will play for them and who will be left out, but we can't worry about that, we can only look to ourselves. We have to play well for our own sakes. Whether Per Mertesacker or Christoph Metzelder plays – that's up to the Germany coach."

Losing battle
Fabiański is resigned to losing his long-running battle with Artur Boruc for a starting place. He was Boruc's understudy at Legia and has had to make do with a slot on the national-team bench, though he has seemingly leapfrogged Manchester United FC's Tomasz Kuszczak in the Poland pecking order. "It is hard for me to play for Poland," Fabiański admitted. "Artur has been playing in the UEFA Champions League, he won the Scottish league with Celtic [FC], and he is one of the ten best keepers in the word at the moment. By contrast I have not played that much for my club, so Artur has a big advantage over me right now. But I will carry on working hard to get into the team and into the manager's thoughts."