THE eyes of Wyre Forest's sizeable Polish community will be glued to television screens tomorrow night as their heroes kick off their World Cup adventure.

Poland, who finished second in England's qualifying group, meet Ecuador and Costa Rica in the first round, with a mouth-watering clash against hosts, Germany, sandwiched in between.

Liberal district and county councillors, Mike and Fran Oborski, will be among the voices cheering when the team takes to the field.

Mr Oborski, honorary consul of the Republic of Poland for the West Midlands, is hoping the players will spring a few surprises and become one of the tournament's dark horses.

The Osborne Close resident explained: "Everyone in the Polish community is looking forward to the matches and I believe the only time Poland could play England is in either the second round or the final.

"If Poland do get knocked out before England I would say the majority of Poles in this country would support England.

"There is certainly no antagonism at all. It would be great to see the two teams competing against each other in the final."

Polish fans were given reason to be quietly optimistic after Saturday's 1-0 friendly defeat of Croatia but opinion on the players picked by manager, Pawel Janas, has caused controversy in the country, according to Mr Oborski.

He said: "I have to say that a lot of Polish fans are livid at the moment because the manager has cut out some of the old and established stars, like the Liverpool goalkeeper, Jerzy Dudek, and replaced them with more inexperienced players.

"Some people are worried it might be a bit of a disaster.

"The atmosphere in Poland will be just as enthusiastic as in this country. Everyone will be gathered around the big screens and be in the city squares, either celebrating or drowning their sorrows," he added.