Poland disappoint hosts with closed doors move

BARINGSHAUSEN, Germany, June 5 (Reuters) Poland cooled World Cup fever at their base today by announcing they were shutting the doors on a final warm-up game that could have drawn a crowd of up to 5,000 locals.

More than 2,000 had already bought tickets for the match against local team Salzgitter on Tuesday until coach Pawel Janas's last-minute change of mind.

The game will now go ahead behind closed doors at 1800 local time.

''Obviously we are disappointed,'' said Andrzej Grajewski, the German-based Polish agent helping to organise the game.

''But we are friends and if Janas thinks that (showing) this game is endangering his preparations, then we will live with it,'' he told reporters.

The Polish football association declined to give a clear reason for the change but striker Maciej Zurawski was more outspoken.

''If the trainer wants to try out different tactical options, that's his affair,'' he said. ''It's a shame but for us there's really no difference.'' The Poles open their World Cup campaign against Ecuador on Friday. They also face hosts Germany and Costa Rica in Group A.

Reuters SK VP0032