POLAND are gearing up for the Euros with their final pre-tournament warm-up game.
And they will face one of the biggest heroes of Euro 2016 in Iceland, who won’t be bringing their thunder clap to the this year’s tournament, having not qualified.
- KICK-OFF TIME: 5pm UK time/6pm local
- TV CHANNEL: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football
- LIVE STREAM: Sky Go and NOW TV
- POLAND TEAM: Szczesny, Kedziora, Glik, Puchacz, Dawidowicz, Krychowiak, Moder, Frankowski, Zielinski, Lewandowski, Swierczok.
- ICELAND TEAM: Runarsson, Sampsted, Hermannsson, Bjarnason, Thorarinsson, Bjarnason, Gunnarsson, Baldursson, Gudmundsson, Anderson, Bodvarsson.
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Stay up to date with all the action in our live blog, below…
POLAND 0-0 ICELAND
2 Another quick reminder:
Iceland manager Arnar Vidarsson appears to have chosen a 4-4-2 formation with six changes to the team that beat the Faroe Islands on Friday.
Runar Runarsson starts in goal with Alfons Sampsted at right-back and Gudmundur Thorarinsson on the other side, while Hjortur Hermannsson and Brynjar Bjarnason link up at centre-back.
Captain Aron Gunnarsson covers the right flank with Mikael Anderson on the left, while Andri Baldursson and Birkir Bjarnason team up in midfield.
Albert Gudmundsson and Jon Bodvarsson lead the attack
POLAND 0-0 ICELAND
1 Just a quick reminder:
Poland manager Paulo Sousa appears to have opted for a 4-4-2 formation with six changes to the team that drew with Russia last week.
Wojciech Szczesny returns between the sticks as he replaces Lukasz Fabianski.
Tomasz Kedziora starts at right-back with Pawel Dawidowicz, who takes Kamil Piatkowski’s place, on the other side, while Kamil Glik, on for Michal Helik, and Tymoteusz Puchacz team up at centre-back.
Grzegorz Krychowiak covers the right flank whereas Piotr Zielinski, who replaces Karol Swiderski, plays on the other side, while Jakub Moder, on for Mateusz Klich, and Przemyslaw Frankowski link up in midfield.
Jakub Swierczok and captain Robert Lewandowski, who replaces Dawid Kownacki, lead the attack
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
AND OFF WE GO IN POZNAN!!!!!!!
HERE COME THE TEAMS!!!
The INEA Stadion is ready to host the international friendly between Poland and Iceland ahead of Euro 2020.
The hosts are being led out to the pitch by captain Robert Lewandowski whereas Aron Gunnarsson dons his nation’s armband.
Afew fans have showed up for this game in the stands despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Not long to go now!
GETTY IMAGES GETTY IMAGES GETTY IMAGES PAUL-ING TOGETHER
Paulo Sousa took over as Poland manager in January replacing Jerzy Brzęczek, who had been dismissed despite achieving qualification for Euro 2020.
Sousa has been experiencing a rough start at the Eagles’ helm as he has only won one of his first four matches in charge.
Poland beat Andorra 3-0 under the Portuguese legend and also lost to England; both matches took place in March.
Sousa experienced tremendous success as a player as he won two successive Champions League titles with Juventus and Borussia Dortmund
GETTY IMAGES SIG-ING PRAISES
Goteborg star Kolbeinn Sigthorsson would have the chance to make history for Iceland in today’s friendly against Poland if he was included in the squad.
Sigthorsson is just one goal away from officially becoming his nation’s record goalscorer.
In fact, the striker is currently tied with Chelsea hero Eidur Gudjohnsen with a total of 26 goals in 63 matches.
Brescia ace Birkir Bjarnason is also after a special record as he is only four more appearances away from becoming Iceland’s most capped player and surpassing Runar Kristinsson, who holds the record with 100 international matches under his belt
GETTY IMAGES LEWAN-GOAL-SKI
Robert Lewandowski enjoyed another stunning season with Bayern Munich and topped the goalscoring charts once more.
Lewandowski registered a staggering 41 goals and seven assists in 29 league matches and finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer.
The star striker also recorded a total of 48 goals in 40 appearances across all competitions this past campaign.
And of course, the 32-year-old is Poland’ record goalscorer with 66 goals in 118 games, which also makes him his nation’s most capped player
GETTY IMAGES ICELAND STATS
Iceland failed to qualify for Euro 2020 after finishing third in Group H behind France as well as Turkey and came up short in the play-offs when they lost to Hungary in the final.
The Scandinavians didn’t fare any better in the Nations League as they finished bottom of the group in League A below Belgium, Denmark and England.
Arnar Vidarsson’s men have struggled in their most recent outings as they’ve only won two of their last six matches.
During that same period of time, Iceland also lost four times
GETTY IMAGES POLAND STATS
Poland qualified for Euro 2020 after topping Group G where they bested Austria and eliminated North Macedonia, Slovenia, Israel and Latvia – the Eagles won eight out of 10 matches and only lost once.
The hosts didn’t have the same success in the Nations League as they finished third in their League A group below Italy and the Netherlands with only two wins in six matches, of which they lost three times.
Poland’s recent track record hasn’t been stellar as they’ve only won one out of their last six games across all competitions.
The White and Reds also count three losses during that same period of time ahead of Euro 2020
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HEAD-TO-HEAD
Poland and Iceland’s first ever meeting took place way back in 2000 during an international friendly match which the former won 1-0 at home thanks to Tomasz Frankowski’s goal.
Since then, the two sides have faced off a total of four times with the Eagles winning a majority of three matches whereas the Scandinavians are still looking for their first victory.
Both teams have never faced off in an official capacity and thus have only locked horns in friendly encounters throughout the years.
In fact, their most recent game took place in 2015 when Poland won 4-2 at home thanks to a brace by Robert Lewandowski
GETTY IMAGES ICELAND FORMATION
Iceland manager Arnar Vidarsson appears to have chosen a 4-4-2 formation with six changes to the team that beat the Faroe Islands on Friday.
Runar Runarsson starts in goal with Alfons Sampsted at right-back and Gudmundur Thorarinsson on the other side, while Hjortur Hermannsson and Brynjar Bjarnason link up at centre-back.
Captain Aron Gunnarsson covers the right flank with Mikael Anderson on the left, while Andri Baldursson and Birkir Bjarnason team up in midfield.
Albert Gudmundsson and Jon Bodvarsson lead the attack
POLAND FORMATION
Poland manager Paulo Sousa appears to have opted for a 4-4-2 formation with six changes to the team that drew with Russia last week.
Wojciech Szczesny returns between the sticks as he replaces Lukasz Fabianski.
Tomasz Kedziora starts at right-back with Pawel Dawidowicz, who takes Kamil Piatkowski’s place, on the other side, while Kamil Glik, on for Michal Helik, and Tymoteusz Puchacz team up at centre-back.
Grzegorz Krychowiak covers the right flank whereas Piotr Zielinski, who replaces Karol Swiderski, plays on the other side, while Jakub Moder, on for Mateusz Klich, and Przemyslaw Frankowski link up in midfield.
Jakub Swierczok and captain Robert Lewandowski, who replaces Dawid Kownacki, lead the attack
POLAND SUBS
22 Fabianski, 12 Skorupski, 18 Bereszynski, 13 Rybus, 25 Helik, 2 Piatkowski, 14 Klich, 21 Jozwiak, 17 Placheta, 6 Kozlowski, 8 Linetty, 11 Swiderski
POLAND XI
1 Szczesny; 4 Kedziora, 15 Glik, 26 Puchacz, 3 Dawidowicz; 10 Krychowiak, 16 Moder, 19 Frankowski, 20 Zielinski; 9 Lewandowski, 24 Swierczok
ICELAND SUBS
1 Kristinsson, 12 E. Olafsson, 5 Thrandarson, 10 Johannesson, 16 K. Thordarson, 18 I. Olafsson, 19 Thorsteinsson, 20 Fridriksson, 21 Gudjohnsen, 23 S. Thordarson, 24 Eyjolfsson
ICELAND XI
13 Runarsson; 2 Sampsted, 4 Hermannsson, 6 Bjarnason, 3 Thorarinsson; 8 Bjarnason, 17 Gunnarsson, 7 Baldursson, 11 Gudmundsson, 15 Anderson; 22 Bodvarsson
THE TEAM SHEETS ARE IN!!!
GOOD AFTERNOON FROM POZNAN
Welcome to our live coverage of the international friendly match between Poland and Iceland at the INEA Stadion ahead of the summer’s delayed Euro 2020 competition.
The hosts are looking for a morale-boosting victory ahead of the European championships where they will face Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
Neither side is dealing with any significant absences but Poland manager Paulo Sousa is expected to start a strong side, which could include Bayern Munich superstar Robert Lewandowski.
Either Mateusz Klich or Jakub Moder could start in midfield while Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny should feature between the sticks.
Iceland boss Arnar Vidarsson may opt for the same backline and midfield after keeping a clean sheet against the Faroe Islands on Friday’s 1-0 win.
Mikael Anderson and Albert Gudmundsson could start and replace the likes of Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson.
The line-ups are gong to depend on what each manager needs for this friendly, as only one of them is going to compete in Euro 2020.
Therefore, if Sousa is still figuring out the team’s identity then he will play a strong side or else he will opt to rest his key players.
But Vidarsson, on the other hand, doesn’t really have much reason to rest players as bragging rights are still up for grabs
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
