Poland confirm UEFA EURO 2012 party

Poland coach Franciszek Smuda said trimming his squad for UEFA EURO 2012 to 23 players was a "very difficult" exercise to undertake after informing Tomasz Jodłowiec, Michał Kucharczyk and Kamil Glik that they will play no part in the tournament.

Smuda announced his decision live on national TV, just like he had done when naming a 26-man provisional party on 2 May. "It was really painful to tell three players they will not participate in the finals," explained Smuda, who has spent the last few days overseeing a training camp in Austria. "Saturday was very difficult for me. We played a friendly and I was praying the whole game that none of my players would get injured.

"Then, in the evening, I had a meeting with my assistants, captain Jakub Błaszczykowski and with the three guys. I understand they are disappointed, but two months after the EURO finals we start our World Cup qualification campaign and they can be back if they make progress."

The same will apply to Łukasz Fabiański, who was ruled out of UEFA EURO 2012 on Saturday because of a shoulder injury he sustained in training earlier in the week. The Arsenal FC goalkeeper has been replaced in the squad by Grzegorz Sandomierski. "I really feel sorry for Łukasz," added Smuda. "He was [looking] very good at the training camp."

On Monday the squad returns home for two days of rest. They reconvene on 31 May and play Andorra in Warsaw on 2 June, their last warm-up game before facing Greece in the opening match of the finals six days later.

Poland squad
Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczęsny (Arsenal FC), Przemysław Tytoń (PSV Eindhoven), Grzegorz Sandomierski (KRC Genk).

Defenders: Sebastian Boenisch (SV Werder Bremen), Marcin Kamiński (KKS Lech Poznań), Damien Perquis (FC Sochaux-Montbéliard), Łukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund), Marcin Wasilewski (RSC Anderlecht), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warszawa), Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (KKS Lech Poznań).

Midfielders: Jakub Błaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre), Kamil Grosicki (Sivasspor), Adam Matuszczyk (Fortuna Düsseldorf 1895), Adrian Mierzejewski (Trabzonspor AŞ), Rafal Murawski (KKS Lech Poznań), Eugen Polanski (1. FSV Mainz), Ludovic Obraniak (FC Girondins de Bordeaux), Maciej Rybus (FC Terek Grozny), Rafał Wolski (Legia Warszawa).

Forwards: Paweł Brożek (Trabzonspor AŞ), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Artur Sobiech (Hannover 96).