Poland Fights on Monday (6 pm in LIVE-tape) in St Petersburg against Slovakia for a good start in EM.
Star striker Robert Lewandowski and his co-stars do not have good memories of the opening matches in the major tournaments. Since 2002 there has been no victory five times in six attempts.
The biggest experience in the finals speaks for them Poland. The game is very important, because in Group E there are also Spain and Sweden, the favorites for the tournament.
This is how Poland and Slovakia start today’s match:
slash Poland It is closely related to Lewandowski’s performance. The 32-year-old has 66 goals after 118 caps and was at his best with 48 goals in 40 competitive games including a new league record (41) last season.
“You are the pride of the nation and an inspiration to millions of people in it Poland“This is what team boss Paulo Sousa said to his striker when he took over in January. So the pressure on Lewandowski’s shoulders is enormous.
This was mostly the case in the past and had no beneficial effect. He scored only once in the 2012 and 2016 European Championships, and has never scored in the 2018 World Cup.
Slovakia depends on Hamsik and Skriniar
The Slovaks have good preconditions to stay that way, as the central defender is one of the key figures with Milan Skriniar. After winning the championship title with Inter Milan, the 26-year-old is competing with a lot of confidence in himself.
The Slovaks were recently represented at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2016 and perfected the group stage before reaching the last 16.
Midfielder and captain Marek Hamsik has already played a key role in these two events and now wants to show once again that he is not yet aged.
With 26 goals, he is the record goalscorer for his country and also the player with the most appearances with 126 appearances. In March, he joined IFK Göteborg in order to gain match training after his commitment in China ahead of the European Championship.
(The article continues below the video.)
Allowing Slovakia to participate in the European Championship at all was due to the reversal of the Nations League qualifiers after missing the European Championship qualifiers.
“We’ve worked hard to be there and we can’t wait to get started. There is a huge challenge ahead,” said Slovakia president Stefan Tarkovic.
His team also engages in fencing as an “intruder” due to his poorer global position. “But I think the teams are very evenly matched,” the 48-year-old said a bit.
Poland does not expect a certain success
A good start could be half the battle due to the new situation, which also promotes four out of six thirds in the group.
“It’s clear, but we lost the first game against Wales in France in 2016 and we still managed to go up,” Tarkovic said.
The Poland Don’t count on assured success. “Slovakia have a well-organised team that defends well in the penalty area, is dangerous in the transfer game and is also very strong on set pieces,” he warns. Poland Team Leader Paulo Sousa. “It won’t be easy, we can’t make mistakes.”
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