By Anita Kobylinska
WARSAW, Poland (Reuters) – Poland have maintained their Nations League’s top-tier League A status ever since the competition’s creation but their loss to Portugal on Saturday underscored their continued struggles to keep up with European top teams.
Poland beat Scotland 3-2 on the road with a last-gasp penalty in their campaign opener but lost 1-0 in Croatia ahead of their 3-1 home defeat by Portugal, which once again exposed the team’s impotence against the top powers.
Despite counting on one of the best strikers around in Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski, Poland lacked ideas and confidence to challenge a dominant Portugal side.
The experienced forward was disappointed after the clash, which sold out almost immediately as Poland’s number one attacking weapon was to face Cristiano Ronaldo.
“It’s not only today that we didn’t have the ball in the box very often, we rarely play into it. It’s the striker’s role to try to do something there, but sometimes there’s just nothing to work with,” Lewandowski said.
“We should strike a balance between good defensive play and creating opportunities up front. There’s a lack of schemes, of risking it and going for it blindly sometimes.
“In football, you can’t do something at 90%. You have to do it at 100% and be sure that if you do it, others will too.”
Coach Michal Probierz, in charge for a year, is well aware of Poland’s limitations and is not afraid to experiment in search for fresh energy.
“I like coach Probierz’s philosophy of the game,” said Portugal coach Roberto Martinez.
“You can see that he takes risks, the team tries to play offensively and with pressing… Today it was more difficult for him because we played very well.”
Against Portugal, Probierz started 19-year-old Legia Warsaw midfielder Maximillian Oyedele, who received his first surprise call-up.
Developed through Manchester United’s academy, Oyedele moved to Legia last summer and has been impressive since, not only in the Polish league but also in the Conference League.
However, making a debut against the 2016 European Champions proved too much of a challenge for the youngster, who was replaced by more experienced Jakub Moder after 66 minutes.
Poland, third in League A Group one on three points, next host Croatia on Tuesday at their Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, where they were a fortress for two years.
Poland had won eight and drew two of their previous 10 home games, including a shock 1-0 victory against Germany last year.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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