Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter
Poland face Wales tonight in Cardiff, with a place in the group stages of Euro 2024 up for grabs. With plenty being spoken and written about team selection, the mood of the players and everyone already lining up their criticisms should Poland not proceed to the final tournament in Germany, I though I’d give a brief preview as well as reasons to be cheerful.
Said team selection will likely be the same as it was against Estonia on Thursday, with Przemysław Frankowski seemingly recovering in time from the injury that saw him hooked at half time in the aforementioned game. Not selected for the 23-man matchday squad are Jakub Moder, Paweł Dawidowicz and post-Estonia call-up Paweł Wszołek.
Personally, I’d have preferred Moder in that 23-man list than outside of it, but otherwise there is little room for complaint. Frankly, after Thursday there is perhaps a greater feeling of optimism given the final score than if the margin of victory had been narrower. At half time in that game, many pundits were complaining that unless Poland scored four or five goals there should be an inquest. Lo and behold, there was still fair room to complain given the soft goal conceded, but alas the attacking output was decent enough and somewhat encouraging, given how decent it was without Robert Lewandowski getting many good opportunities on goal.
Also a source of mild cheer should be that, despite the home side likely being slight favourites based on form and the fact they are indeed the home side, Poland have a good record against Wales in recent meetings. Indeed, it has been cited several times these past few days, in particular the game Poland played against Wales in September 2022. That required a top performance from Wojciech Szczęsny, but the players in front of him are in far better form now than they were at that time, so there is another factor which should be a reason not to be overly nervous.
It's been interesting reading how the British media have been building up for this match. There is an air of utmost confidence that, beside Szczęsny and Lewandowski, Wales have better players in every position. Sadly, this selectively-patriotic tubthumping is pretty commonplace when it comes to the "home nations", and this confidence does understandably (and sometimes correctly) present to outsiders as over-confidence. Those in the British press who take a slightly more informed point of view still have that confidence, but it is understandable, given that Wales beat Croatia in order to get to this point and that is being brought up as a big confidence-booster.
Finally, given how lacklustre and disappointing the campaign to qualify for Euro 2024 has been for Poland, you imagine that this last chance is one the players are absolutely up for. There is equally the same amount of motivation for the Welsh, but it would be remiss of me not to point out that Poland have had to face Wales and the atmosphere their supporters create in this same stadium just 18 months ago, albeit in not as tense a situation. Poland handled it that time and there is no reason not to think that, everything else aside, they will be able to handle that extra factor once more.
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