Mateusz Borek fell into ecstasy. The UEFA delegate cried. A miracle at the Wis³a Kraków stadium

Today it seems unbelievable, but 2011/2012 was only a consolation prize. The goal after winning the Polish championship was, as always, and all funds were thrown on her, including financial ones. The match with APOEL in Nicosia is actually a hiccup for Wisła to this day, because since then the Wisła players have ceased to count in the fight for the national championship. Back then, no one in Krakow, even in their darkest dreams, imagined what the next years would look like.

In the Europa League, Wisła joined the group with Dutch Twente, English Fulham and Danish Odense. The very first meeting showed the Wisła players that it would be extremely difficult to get promoted from the group. Odense won in Krakow 3: 1 and “good morning” Wisła’s situation got complicated. Then there was a clear 1: 4 defeat with Twente away, and at the end of the first round Wisła defeated 1-0 after a goal by Dudu Biton. Soon after, Fulham retaliated and won 4-1, and Wisła won 2-1 away from Odense in the penultimate round.

The Vistula needed a miracle

In the last round, Wisła took up Twente and in order to advance, she had to win this match. Contrary to appearances, it was the easier part – the team was already sure of a promotion and a reserve line-up came to Krakow. But there was one more condition – Fulham could not win at home against Odense. The Danes no longer had a chance to be promoted, and the English team knew very well that the Vistula River was lurking behind their backs. Before the meeting, any exit from the group was considered a miracle.

Both meetings started at 21:05. The first goal was scored in Krakow. In the 11th minute, Łukasz Garguła hit the net, although with a lot of help from the rivals’ goalkeeper. For several minutes the Wisła players were in the 1/16 finals of the Europa League, because in London it was still 0-0. Unfortunately, only for a dozen or so minutes. Clint Dempsey’s and Kerim Frei’s goals from the 27th and 31st minutes practically stripped Wisła’s illusions. To make matters worse, at the very end of the first half, Luuk de Jong scored a goal for Twente – today the player. Until the break, everything went wrong for Wisła – the Cracovians were tied with Twente, and Fulham was leading 2-0.

The second half in Krakow started with a strong blow. Already in the first action after the resumption of Cwetan Genkov took Wisła to the lead 2: 1. However, in the 64th minute of the contact goal for Odense was scored by Hans Henrik Andreasen and since then there has been a nervous anticipation if anything else would happen. As the Wisła players who played in that match recalled, they listened for the reaction of the stands. These misled the players at some point.

– We did not know what the result of Fulham’s game against Odense was. In the 80th minute we heard only joy in behavior and then we thought that something must have happened in London. As it turned out later, it was a false start, but for us it was an incentive to fight to the end – said Sergei Pareiko, Wisła’s goalkeeper, quoted by the club’s official website after the match.

The commentators went crazy. “This is the promotion of the Polish champion, something unbelievable!”

The Vistula finally did its job. She won 2: 1 and could only wait for what would happen in London. Pictures after the final whistle of the judge in Krakow are remembered by every fan of Wisła. First, the players of Kazimierz Moskal thanked their rivals for the game. Commenting on the meeting for Polsat said that the Wisła players are waiting for some information from the Fulham stadium. Suddenly, in the background, spectators could hear several people shouting with joy that began to spill over the stadium.

– Ladies and gentlemen, an amazing situation! We are just getting the information – a goal for Odense for 2: 2 and it means, if nothing changes there, that Wisła will play in European cups this spring! Borek shouted into the microphone.

– When the match in Krakow was over, I asked the publisher what was going on in London. He said it’s ninety minutes, the judge added three, still it’s 2-1 for Fulham. In fact, we were supposed to leave the antenna, because the broadcast was shouting at us to vote, but I insisted on staying on this antenna until the end. I say, “We’re not coming down until the game over there in London is over.” I kept the publisher on the button, thanks to which I could “disappear” from the antenna when the second commentator has the voice, and asked him to inform me every 15 seconds what was going on there, if nothing changed. And suddenly I hear some shock in my headphones that it’s seven seconds left in London and that a goal has been scored! I decided not to disclose this information for a few seconds, just kept the publisher on this button to let me know when the last whistle was. When I got such information, I was able to share it and let my imagination run wild – said the journalist in an interview with the official club website.

On television, cameras caught Sergei Pareika. The Estonian was looking at someone standing behind the camera, and the movement of his mouth showed the question: “two or two?”. When the goalkeeper was sure there was a tie in London, he turned to his teammates and shouted this information. The whole stadium was already shaking and a moment later it exploded when the announcer announced there was a draw in London. Wisła was promoted by Senegalese Djiby Fall. The Odense forward jumped into a cross from the right and headed for goalkeeper Fulham.

– Incredible turn of events, Djibi Fall! Two to two, Fulham draw with Odense and this is Wisła Kraków’s promotion. This is the promotion of the Polish champion, ladies and gentlemen! Something incredible! – exclaimed Przemysław Pełka, who commented on this meeting.

– It seemed that a match was waiting for me to check off, because Fulham would do his job, and there were so many different conditions that gave Wisła a promotion that hardly anyone believed it. As it turned out? That there is a guy like Djiby Fall who – I don’t even know where he is playing today – gave Wisła a promotion. What can I say? There are times when your emotions get over you. I did it spontaneously, and I am not a commentator who hides emotions. If I like something, I let you feel it – Pełka said in an interview with

– The sound technician let me know on headphones that Wisła, who finished earlier, won. Odense fell after the last whistle in Krakow, but a moment earlier I knew what she was “threatening”. The situation was quite funny, because in the circle of Wisła fans I became perhaps not a cult, but a very important commentator. the club’s website even interviewed me, to be honest – for me this match was a prize. I commented on hundreds of other sporting events, but then I had such a bonus – he added.

Muscovite did not believe it, Jirsak preferred to be happy than to go to the inspection

A fete began in Krakow. The fans, footballers, the training staff and even the delegates were happy. – Five minutes before the end of the match in European cups, I have to go to the dressing room, where Polsat tells me which player he wants to interview right after the match. This time the situation was more complicated, because the competitor selected for the interview was also selected for doping control. It was Tomas Jirsak. Right after the end of the match, I had to quickly get Tomas off the pitch, because according to UEFA regulations, the player has no right to go to the dressing room before the inspection. He can only give an interview with me and a UEFA person in the first place, and then go to the inspection right away. At the moment when I was going down the stairs with Tomas, Kuba Jarosz, who was talking on the phone with his dad, started shouting to me that Odense scored at 2: 2. It was still the moment when the stadium did not explode with joy. I immediately passed this information on to Tomas, who turned on his heel and it was clear that he was not going to any interview or any control, because he ran quickly onto the pitch to enjoy himself with his friends. As soon as he was reaching the rest of the players, the fans received information about the goal in London. I quickly started calling Kaziu Moskal, Andrzej Bahr and Paweł Primel that there was a draw in London. They couldn’t believe it for a long time. Looking at Kazio, I saw that this information did not reach him quickly, although the madness had already started at the stadium. We jumped a bit with Kuba Jarosz, Grześ Halat, and Kaziem Antkowiak. At the tunnel, Bruno and Tim from UEFA were with us, and they were happy with us. Bruno even cried with emotion – said Adrian Ochalik, the then press spokesman of Wisła Kraków.

Immediately after the game ended, I saw the reactions of some of the players pointing to their fingers that it was 2-1 for Fulham. The first reaction was that we did our part, but the miracle in London did not happen. I took it calmly. After a while, however, strange movement began in the stadium, strange commotion. Adrian Ochalik shouted at me that it was 2: 2, there were similar cheers from the stands. I didn’t know what to think about it until the end. I didn’t really believe it, it seemed to me that someone had tricked someone and it would turn out to be untrue, the more so because the team manager was standing by me, who was checking the live results on the phone and it was still 2: 1 for Fulham and the match continued. It did not reach me – recalled the coach of Wisła, Kazimierz Moskal.

Odense went down in the history of the Vistula

– Krakow will not go to bed long today, oh, it will not go to bed! – with these words Mateusz Borek ended the broadcast from Krakow. He was right – Kazimierz Moskal admitted that he had trouble sleeping after the match. – I spent the whole night at home, switching channels on TV because I didn’t have our game recorded to watch it again. I didn’t sleep a wink all night and it was probably the moment when I realized that it was true. Still, when I think back to the end of the match, it all seems unbelievable to me – he said.

Odense immediately became the favorite foreign club of all Wisła fans. The Danish club’s Facebook profile was flooded with thank-you messages from Polish fans. “Thank you, Odense, because this match was a parsley match for you. But it was the most beautiful, tastiest and most important parsley in the world” – we wrote then on Sport.pl. Even the club itself allowed itself to send out an official thank you. A six-liter bottle of vodka, club souvenirs and a thank you letter for help in the promotion went to Denmark.

It was the last promotion of Wisła Kraków in European cups so far. In the 1/16 finals, Wisła hit the Belgian one. The rival was within reach, but he was promoted thanks to the away goals rule (1-1 in Krakow and 0-0 in Liege). The rematch in Liege, played on February 23, 2012, was Wisła Kraków’s last match in European cups.