POLAND – Mark Kar (Development Director, Dubai)

The Poland players and fans are desperate to get our first ever European Championship win on the board and we have an excellent chance of finally getting that first victory at the seventh attempt against Northern Ireland.

Our friendly results have been a real mixed bag – in March we had a solid 1-0 win over Serbia and a 5-0 thrashing of Finland but ahead of the Euros we lost 2-1 at home to a Netherlands side that failed to qualify for the finals and drew 0-0 with Lithuania – a really poor result.

However, confidence is still sky high among this group of players – Poland have a fully fit squad and a settled starting XI. Anything less than a victory will be a devastating blow to our hopes of getting through but I’m confident that Poland will rise to the occasion.

LIKELY POLAND XI: Szczesny; Piszczek, Glik, Cionek, Wawrzyniak; Maczynski, Krychowiak; Blaszczykowski, Starzynski, Grosicki; Lewandowski

PREDICTION: Poland 2-0 Northern Ireland

POLAND PLAYER TO WATCH: Jakub Blaszczykowski – Robert Lewandowski tends to steal the headlines but Kuba is arguably our most influential player and we will need the Fiorentina man to be on form from the off.

NORTHERN IRELAND PLAYER TO FEAR: Steven Davis – Their captain has had another really good season with Southampton. He isn’t a flashy player but tidily moves the ball around and breaks up play.

WHERE TO WATCH: Polish fan groups are heading straight to Barasti.

NORTHERN IRELAND – Stephen McWilliam (Fire Station Manager, Dubai)

Northern Ireland are heading into their first ever European Championship match in brilliant form having not lost in their last 12 games under Michael O’Neill. It’s a run that has seen us climb to a record high of 25 in the FIFA World Rankings.

There are no George Bests or Norman Whitesides in this Northern Ireland side but despite not possessing any players of their ilk anymore what we do have is a passionate group of hardworking players who put themselves on the line on for their country.

The squad’s confidence has grown substantially over the past two years and there is a genuine belief that we can upset the applecart at this tournament – teams will unquestionably under-estimate us and that should really play into our favour.

Northern Ireland are a bit of an unknown quantity. But not for long.

PREDICTION: Poland 1-1 Northern Ireland

LIKELY NORTHERN IRELAND XI: McGovern; McAuley, Evans ,Cathcart, Baird; Dallas , Norwood, Davis , McLaughlin; Gregg, Washington

NORTHERN IRELAND PLAYER TO WATCH: Steven Davis – He is our skipper and the engine in our midfield. He has a great work-rate and has also shown an eye for an important goal or two as well.

POLAND PLAYER TO FEAR: Robert Lewandowski – He’s been an absolute beast for Bayern Munich and Poland over the past 12 months and it’s going to be incredibly tough for our defence to keep him at bay.

WHERE TO WATCH: There are good deals at the Media One Hotel and of course there will be a good atmosphere at Irish bars like McGettigans.