EURO 2024 Preview: Injury-hit Poland looking to make mark in tough group

Eurofotbal

Robert Lewandowski during a recent friendly against TurkeyAFP

Poland regularly travel to major tournaments with big ambitions, but they have been waiting for success for a long time. This summer, they are heading to the Euros in an unenviable situation - after a botched qualification, they only secured their participation through the play-offs, and a group with the Netherlands, Austria and France does not bode well for them.

What they can do is bounce back from the 2022 World Cup where they made it through the group stage only to lose against beaten finalists France in the last-16.

Given that they had also made it through to the top group of the Nations League, they were clear favourites to qualify in a relatively easy qualifying group.

However, replacing coach Czeslaw Michniewicz with experienced international and European champion Fernando Santos did not bring the desired success and the Portuguese coach also left after five matches.

It was only with Michal Probierz when results picked up and through a penalty shootout in the play-off against Wales, Poland finally sealed their place in the prestigious tournament.

On paper, Poland's squad, among the oldest in age, offers an interesting mix of experience and quality. However, it has suffered noticeable losses during a pair of friendly matches - first Arkadiusz Milik had to undergo knee surgery, while Robert Lewandowski, Karol Swiderski and Pawel Dawidowicz were injured in the dress rehearsal against Turkey.

Even so, coach Probierz is not losing faith in his team and is optimistic about the tournament. He is especially happy that his charges are gaining more and more form with their clubs, which will allow them to compete with the big favourites. The demanding Polish fans want nothing but the best.

Tournament history

While Poland have made it to the World Cup four times in the last century, it was not until 2008 that they made their first appearance at the Euros.

Now the Poles have managed to qualify for the fifth time in a row, but have finished last in the group stage three times in their four previous appearances without a single win.

In Austria 16 years ago they faced tough opponents in Germany, Croatia and the home team, against whom they won their only point.

The home tournament four years later was full of expectations, helped by a theoretically easy group with the Czech Republic, Russia and Greece. Robert Lewandowski was coming off a breakthrough 30-goal season, complemented by Dortmund teammates Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski.

However, the strong attack did not perform as the fans imagined and Poland failed to make it out of the group stages.

It was better in France in 2016 as they progressed as far as the quarter-finals, only to fall in a penalty shoot-out against eventual winners Portugal.

Last time out at Euro 2020, Poland finished bottom of the group, picking up just a point from their matches against Spain, Sweden and Slovakia.

The road to the championship

It all started immediately after the end of the 2022 World Cup. The Polish federation chose Fernando Santos - a well-known name, winner of Euro 2016 and the Nations League with Portugal - as the man to take charge of the side.

But Santos brought the disappointing results from the end of his engagement with Portugal with him. The very start of his tenure was downright tragic, with Poland conceding twice in the first three minutes and losing 3-1 to the Czechs in Eden.

During the same international break, the players made amends with a win against Albania and then beat Germany in a friendly in June. But the optimistic prospects quickly faded again, leading to a terrible defeat in Moldova.

And when Santos oversaw another setback in Albania in September, he probably already suspected that he would not be able to do much more with this team. His successor, Michal Probierz, settled the formation from the start and trusted in playing three defenders.

After the obligatory win against the Faroe Islands, he only drew with the Moldovans and the Czechs, but through the dreaded play-offs, he finally accomplished the task. And as he also managed both of the June friendly matches, his team will go into the tournament with an impressive record of eight games unbeaten.

Michal Probierz the coach

If you pick a club at random on the Polish football map, there's a good chance he has coached it in the past. Probierz is, diplomatically speaking, a polarising coach who has had three very successful managerial spells but has left many other clubs early.

He hasn't helped himself in the public eye with a series of controversial statements, such as when, as Cracovia coach, he declared that there were no talented youngsters in Poland.

His two periods in Bialystok are among the most successful. Probierz first joined Jagiellonia in the summer of 2008. The team under the then thirty-six-year-old coach gradually improved its results. Despite being punished for an earlier corruption scandal, he won the Polish Cup and the Super Cup in three years and led the team to Europe twice.

His return in 2014 did not bring any trophies, but he improved the club's historical record again with a third and later a second-place finish. At Cracovia, Probierz repeated his achievements from his first engagement in Bialystok, when he also succeeded in the domestic cup and the Super Cup.

After a couple of tough spells, Probierz proved his worth again in the qualifiers, where he helped guide the team into the tournament. The coming weeks will tell if Probierz has fully earned the trust of the union and especially the fans.

Lewandowski the driving force

The team captain and clearly Poland's biggest star has a huge influence on the side. The management set-up and supporters have no choice but to pray the striker is fit as soon as possible.

After just half an hour of the friendly with Ukraine, Lewandowski limped off the pitch, his injured hamstring will rule him out of at least the opening game against the Netherlands, with a question mark hanging over the crucial second game against Austria.

His total of 82 goals for the national team puts him in the top 10 worldwide national team scorers in history.

It is widely expected that "Lewa" will add to this tally, although at club level he can only reminisce about his 40 or even 50-goal seasons in Munich. It is not surprising, however, that at Barcelona his numbers are considerably lower.

A total of 59 goals across two seasons is still a great achievement, with the Pole finishing in first and third place in the LaLiga goalscorers table.