Racing Post

Poles pinning all their hopes on Lewandowski

Mark Langdon

FOOTBALL is a team game where fit tness, training-groun nd processes and coaching methodology plays import tant roles but it still helps if you u possess an individual as talented as Robert Lewandowski.

Poland will once again place all hope on Lewandowski, a burden that seemed to weigh down the captain earlier in his career and even when he did make an impact there was little reward.

Lewandowski scored three goals at Euro 2020, including an opener in a 1 1-1 draw with Spain, but desp pite that t and a brace against Sweden, S it was bottom spot for Poland. P

The move from Bayern Munich M to Barcelona has not slowed s Lewandowski’s hunger for f goals and it was the 34-year-old 3 striker who pulled Poland P to the finals as he crucially c broke the deadlock in a tight playoff against Sweden.

Poland’s next best player, Napoli N playmaker Piotr Zielinski, Z also notched as they booked b a spot in Qatar.

A difficult Nations League followed f with Poland losing 6-1 6 to Belgium along the way. Lewandowski L still scored and there t have been few more reliable r marksmen over the past p decade.

If Zielinski can supply the ammo for Lewandowski and Juventus’s injury-prone targetman Arkadiusz Milik then that might give Poland a slight edge over Mexico in what is already looking like a do-or-die clash given Argentina and Saudi Arabia are being earmarked for top and bottom in Group C.

A lack of nous won’t be an issue with Wojciech Szczesny, Kamil Glik and Grzegorz Krychowiak tournament veterans, although almost all of their past experiences have been negative except for a quarter-final at Euro 2016.

Jakub Kiwior and Nicola Zalewski provide a fresher approach but the idea remains the same – give it to Lewandowski and hope.

WDLA mainstay in the French dugout since leaving Marseille in 2012, Deschamps led his star-studded squad to World Cup glory in 2018 before guiding them to a Nations League triumph last October.

• Fantastic firepower • Brimming with talent in all

areas

• Numerous squad members know what it takes to win the World Cup

• Benjamin Pavard is not a natural right wing-back Injuries to Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante means they have lost bags of experience in midfield

• Having so many options could pose selection headaches for Deschamps

WORLD CUP 2022 GROUP C

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