Former Poland coach Gorski passes away

WARSAW, May 23: Former Poland soccer coach Kazimierz Gorski, who led the country to a third-place finish at the 1974 World Cup and Olympic gold, has died at the age of 85, PAP news agency reported today.

Born in Lviv, now in Ukraine, Gorski coached the national team from 1970 to 1976, overseeing the golden era of Polish football that produced players like Kazimierz Dejna, Grzegorz Lato, Robert Gadocha and Wlodzimierz Lubanski.

''I don't think I am offending anyone by saying that he was the Pope of Polish football,'' said former goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski, whose heroic saves against England at Wembley took Gorski's team to the 1974 World Cup.

''He was a second father to me. For what we achieved with him, he will live in my heart forever,'' Tomaszewski told Reuters.

Reuters PM