From SHAUN CUSTIS
ENGLAND will play their World Cup qualifier in Poland today after a rain-lashed night of Monty Python-style lunacy.
The Warsaw clash was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch after officials left the roof open on the £500million stadium.
Worried England boss Roy Hodgson fears the turf is so wet today’s 4pm kick-off could even be in jeopardy.
He said: “The pitch is in poor condition. The water is lying on the surface and it will need a lot of attention if we are going to play on it.”
Club England managing director Adrian Bevington added: “The roof is decided on by the stadium, in conjunction with the Polish FA. We don’t have a say.
“We asked the question on Monday whether the roof would be open or not and we were advised it would be open.”
However, the Poles then came up with a series of incredible excuses why the roof was left open.
DRIP 1: First they blamed FIFA for turning up too late.
A spokeswoman for the National Sports Centre, which owns the stadium, said: “We’re not able to make the decision to close the roof without the presence of the FIFA match delegate. He did not arrive until 7pm, by which time it was raining.”
DRIP 2: Then they insisted closing the roof could be dangerous.
She added: “It takes 15 minutes to close the roof. But we cannot do it in temperatures below zero, in high wind or while it is wet. If we closed it while it was wet, the roof could fall. It’d be dangerous.”
DRIP 3: Then they claimed the drainage was so poor because the pitch was built too low.
Stadium architect Zbigniew Pszczulny said the NSC had “reduced the height of the playing surface from 22cm to two, to save on cost.”
Keepers Joe Hart, John Ruddy and Fraser Forster plus coach Dave Watson came out to warm-up an hour before kick-off.
But they soon realised it was a nonsensical exercise because of the amount of surface water on the pitch.
The ref inspected the pitch at kick-off time and the game was called off an hour later.
Hodgson added: “We are very unhappy about it but what can we do? These are acts of God.”
Former England boss Graham Taylor said: “This was Monty Python. Both sets of supporters were treated disgracefully.
“If I was a fan I’d have booed.”
