The Poles found themselves again in the highest division of the Nations League. In group A1, in addition to Scotland, the opponents will also be the Croatian and Portuguese national teams.
Touchstone surprised with its programming
For the red and red team, it was the first appearance after the unsuccessful Euro 2024. The line-up for the match against Scotland was a big unknown. Touchstone didn’t reveal any details and there were many question marks. The biggest one is the goal personnel.
In the end, all the pre-match predictions did not come true. The coach chose a rather surprising eleven for the Scots. The coach chose a rather attacking variant. Our team lacked a typical defensive midfielder.
Bread with number one
About a dozen days ago, Wojciech Szczęsny retired and the team is currently fighting for the number one jersey. Touchstone hopes Nations League games will give him the answerwho should be the Polish goalkeeper in the next World Cup qualifiers.
Most pundits predicted that Łukasz Skorupski would be in the Polish goal from the first minute against the Scots. However, the tester chose Marcin Bułka. Nice’s French goalkeeper didn’t make any mistakes, but it has to be admitted that this wasn’t a strong point either. He made some uncertain interventions, especially early on.
Kiwior the weakest, Zalewski the superstar
On defense, the touchstone chose battle-tested players. The three defenders will be Jan Bednarek, Paweł Dawidowicz and Jakub Kiwior. The last one was the worst of them.
It is clear that Kiwior has no place in the Arsenal squad. The 24-year-old made too many mistakes and was rightly substituted at half-time.
We also saw the same faces from Euro 2024 on the buses. Nicola Zaleski will run on the left flank and Przemysław Frankowski on the other flank.
Zalewski ended up being the hero of the match. The AS Roma player frequently attempted individual moves and dribbles. Two of his shots were blocked by fouls in the penalty area. As a result, the referee gave the red and white team two starting elevens. The first was converted into a goal by Robert Lewandowski, and the second was converted by the injured player himself in injury time.
Sebastian Szymański scored our team’s third goalwho scored a precise shot from distance early in the match.
In addition to Szymański, Kacper Urbański and Piotr Zieliński played in the second line. It must be admitted that neither of them disappointed.
Lewandowski left the field injured
There were no surprises in attack. From the first whistle, Touchstone selected the forwards who are currently in their best form. Both Robert Lewandowski and Krzysztof Piątek have impressed with their goalscoring form at the start of the season.
However, neither of them shone in the same way for the national team as they did for their clubs. Lewandowski was active, but made many unsuccessful plays. A perfectly executed penalty is definitely an advantage for him.
Our team captain left the field before the end of the match. Barcelona’s shooter suffered an injury.
However, nothing positive can be said about Piątek’s performance. The Istanbul Başakşehir player was completely invisible.
They are happy with the three points, but such a game may not be enough for the Croats.
Poland has been playing in the top division of the Nations League since the start of the competition, but never advanced to the Final Four tournament.
The first and second placed teams in each group will play in the quarter-finals, the third placed teams will play the play-offs to remain in the highest division (their rivals will be the second placed teams in division B), and the teams occupying the fourth positions will be relegated.
The victory against Scotland is certainly pleasing. The three points gained in Glasgow are valuable. However, it must be admitted that the Poles at Hampden Park were very lucky.
If Michał Probierz’s players play against Croatia at a similar level on Sunday in Osijek, they will again have to rely on them not to leave the pitch with their heads down.
