Struggling Poland Tries to Close the Gap with Europe’s Elite Teams

Despite maintaining their place in League A of the UEFA Nations League since its inception, Poland’s 3-1 defeat to Portugal on Saturday highlighted their ongoing struggle to compete with Europe’s top teams.

Poland began the campaign with a dramatic 3-2 away win against Scotland but lost 1-0 in Croatia before suffering the home defeat to Portugal. This exposed Poland’s difficulties against League A opponents.

Even with one of the world’s top forwards, Robert Lewandowski, Poland lacked the creativity and confidence needed to challenge a dominant Portuguese side.

Lewandowski, the Barcelona striker, was visibly disappointed after the highly anticipated match, which had tickets sell out almost immediately due to the prospect of a showdown between him and Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Lewandowski said, “It’s not just about the lack of chances in the opponent’s penalty area, we rarely played there. The role of a striker is to try to do something, but sometimes there are no opportunities. We need to balance good defense with creating chances in attack. There’s a lack of planning and risk-taking, and sometimes our attacks are too random.”

Lewandowski, the former Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund player, added, “In football, you can’t do things 90% right. You have to do them 100%, and if you do, others will follow.”

Poland coach Michal Probierz, who has been in charge for a year, knows the team’s capabilities well and isn’t afraid to experiment in search of new solutions.

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez praised Probierz’s philosophy, saying, “I like his approach. You can see he’s willing to take risks, and the team tries to play attacking football and press. Today was harder for him because we played very well.”

Probierz started the Portugal game with 19-year-old Legia Warsaw midfielder Maximilian Oyedele, who received his first call-up to the senior national team.

Oyedele, who was raised in Manchester United’s academy before moving to Legia last summer, has impressed in both the Polish league and the Europa Conference League. However, making his national team debut against the 2016 European champions was too big a challenge, and he was replaced by the more experienced Jakub Moder after 66 minutes.

Poland, currently third in Group A of League A with three points, will host Croatia on Tuesday at Warsaw’s Narodowy Stadium, where the team has been undefeated for two years. Poland has won eight and drawn two of their last ten home games, including a surprise 1-0 win over Germany last year.