By Sam Tobin
DORTMUND, Germany (Reuters) – Poland have built the foundations for a more successful future despite being the first team eliminated from Euro 2024, coach Michal Probierz said after his side held France to a 1-1 draw in their final Group D game.
After giving up an early lead before conceding a late winner in their first match against the Netherlands, Poland were dumped out with a game to spare after their 3-1 defeat by Austria.
But neither their boisterous fans – who began the festivities early in central Dortmund on Tuesday, before roaring on their side in the stadium – nor their players acted as if their final match was a non-event.
Poland were thankful for a man of the match performance from goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, but looked set for yet another defeat after Kylian Mbappe converted a second-half penalty.
Yet the Poles fought back and after veteran striker Robert Lewandowski levelled from the spot, even put France under some late pressure to threaten a winner which could have given a below-par France a challenging last-16 clash.
Probierz admitted Poland’s overall tournament was a let-down, but said his players could take positives from their performance against a talented France side.
“I just need to accept what happened here. We need to explain that to the fans,” he told reporters.
“We should not feel sad. It’s just foundations for the future to compete against every opponent that we may face. Against the runners-up of the World Cup, we can play as equals.”
Probierz suggested Poland performed as well as they could in the three matches given their players’ fitness levels, not least after Lewandowski missed their first match with injury.
“We have shown today that when we have a moment of peace and calm in our game, we can play some good football,” he said.
“I think we were quite well prepared, very well prepared for these European Championships. And I think we’ve done what we could have done.”
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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