POLAND get their Euro 2020 campaign underway against Slovakia in a Central European derby.
Robert Lewandowski and co won their qualifying group and will hope for a repeat of their performance in 2016 when they got all the way to the quarter-final before going out on penalties to eventual winners Portugal.
Neighbours Slovakia meanwhile struggled in qualifying but progressed via the play-offs with a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland at Windsor Park.
Spain and Sweden are the other two teams in Group E.
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- Poland XI: Szczesny, Bereszynski, Glik, Bednarek, Rybus, Linetty, Krychowiak, Klich, Jozwiak, Lewnandowski, Zielinski.
- Slovakia XI: Dubravka, Pekarik, Satka, Skriniar, Hubocan, Kucka, Hromada, Haraslin, Hamsik, Mak, Duda.
POLAND 0-0 SLOVAKIA
8 Poland stars Krychowiak and Lewandowski are obviously trying to play high up on the pitch.
The midfielder is throwing some good balls down the attacking half and the Bayern superstar is putting together some impressive runs
POLAND 0-0 SLOVAKIA
5 Poland are trying to impose their dominance with Lewandowski’s runs.
However, Sousa’s men will have to be especially careful not to give away too many set-pieces as Hamsik poses as a major threat
POLAND 0-0 SLOVAKIA
2 Another quick reminder:
Slovakia manager Stefan Tarkovic appears to have opted for a 4-2-3-1, that could turn into a 4-4-2, formation.
Martin Dubravka starts in goal with Peter Pekarik at right-back and Tomas Hubocan on the other side, while Milan Skriniar and Lubomir Satka team up at centre-back.
Juraj Kucka and Jakub Hromada team up in midfield with captain Marek Hamsik at No10, but could also play as a second striker.
Lukas Haraslin and Robert Mak cover the wings whereas Ondrej Duda leads the attack
POLAND 0-0 SLOVAKIA
1 Just a quick reminder:
Poland manager Paulo Sousa appears to have opted for a 4-3-3 formation for today’s match against Slovakia.
Wojciech Szczesny starts in goal with Bartosz Bereszynski at right-back and Maciej Rybus on the other side, while Kamil Glik and Jan Bednarek team up at centre-back.
Karol Linetty, Mateusz Klich and Grzegorz Krychowiak link up in midfield.
Kamil Jozwiak, Piotr Zielinski and captain Robert Lewandowski lead the attack
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
AND OFF WE GO IN SAINT PETERSBURG!!!!!!!
HERE COME THE TEAMS!!!
The Saint Petersburg Stadium is set to host the Euro 2020 clash between Poland and Slovakia.
Captain Robert Lewandowski leads his national team to the pitch and Marek Hamsik dons his country’s armband.
Quite a few fans on the stands, so there will also be some atmosphere.
Not long to go now…!
GETTY IMAGES LEAVING A MAREK
Trabzonspor signing Marek Hamsik poses as Slovakia’s biggest star ahead of their Euro 2020 kick-off match against Poland.
Hamsik is the Falcons’ record scorer with 26 goals in 124 appearances, which also makes him his country’s most capped player of all time.
The midfielder rose to prominence during his 12-year stint at Napoli where he amassed a whopping 121 goals and 100 assists in 520 matches across all competitions.
The 33-year-old registered one goal in six appearances for Goteborg and is now set to join Trabzonspor in July
GETTY IMAGES PAUL-ING TOGETHER
Paulo Sousa took over as Poland’s 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 five 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 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
SLOVAKIA FORMATION
Slovakia manager Stefan Tarkovic appears to have opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Martin Dubravka starts in goal with Peter Pekarik at right-back and Tomas Hubocan on the other side, while Milan Skriniar and Lubomir Satka team up at centre-back.
Juraj Kucka and Jakub Hromada team up in midfield with captain Marek Hamsik at No10.
Lukas Haraslin and Robert Mak cover the wings whereas Ondrej Duda leads the attack
POLAND FORMATION
Poland manager Paulo Sousa appears to have opted for a 4-3-3 formation for today’s match against Slovakia.
Wojciech Szczesny starts in goal with Bartosz Bereszynski at right-back and Maciej Rybus on the other side, while Kamil Glik and Jan Bednarek team up at centre-back.
Karol Linetty, Mateusz Klich and Grzegorz Krychowiak link up in midfield.
Kamil Jozwiak, Piotr Zielinski and captain Robert Lewandowski lead the attack
SLOVAKIA BENCH
3 Vavro, 6 Gregus, 7 Weiss, 10 Suslov, 11 Benes, 12 Kuciak, 13 Hrosovsky, 16 Hancko, 21 Duris, 22 Lobotka, 23 Rodak, 24 Koscelnik
POLAND BENCH
3 Dawidowicz, 4 Kedziora, 6 Kozlowski, 11 Swiderski, 12 Skorupski, 16 Moder, 17 Placheta, 19 Frankowski, 22 Fabianski, 24 Swierczok, 25 Helik, 26 Puchacz
SLOVAKIA XI
1 Dubravka, 2 Pekarik, 5 Satka, 14 Skriniar, 15 Hubocan, 19 Kucka, 25 Hromada, 18 Haraslin, 17 Hamsik, 20 Mak, 8 Duda
POLAND XI
1 Szczesny, 18 Bereszynski, 15 Glik, 5 Bednarek, 13 Rybus, 8 Linetty, 10 Krychowiak, 14 Klich, 21 Jozwiak, 9 Lewandowski, 20 Zielinski
THE TEAM SHEETS ARE IN!!!
SLOVAKIA STATS
Slovakia made it to Euro 2020 after beating Northern Ireland in their play-off final in November 2020.
The Falcons, though, struggled in the Nations League as they finished at the bottom of their League B group below the Czech Republic, Scotland and Israel with one win and four losses out of six matches.
Their recent form hasn’t been stellar either as they have only won one out of their last six matches – their most recent victory took place in March against Russia whom they beat 2-1.
Stefan Tarkovic’s men also count one loss during that same period of time but have been undefeated in their last five outings across all competitions
Credit: Reuters 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 either as they’ve only won one out of their last six games across all competitions, which took place last March against Andorra.
The White and Reds also count two losses during that same period of time ahead of their Euro 2020 opener
Credit: Getty HEAD-TO-HEAD
Poland and Slovakia’s first ever meeting, ever since the latter’s independence, took place in 2007 during an international friendly in Spain that ended 2-2.
Since then, the two sides have faced off a total of five times with the Slovakians winning a majority of three matches, compared to the Poles’ one and only victory.
Poland defeated their Group E opponents for the first time in 2012 during an international friendly in Austria thanks to Damien Perquis’ winner.
However, Slovakia won their most recent encounter away in 2013, in another friendly game, with a score of 2-0
Credit: Getty GOOD AFTERNOON FROM SAINT PETERSBURG
Welcome to our live coverage of the Euro 2020 group stage match between Poland and Slovakia at the Saint Petersburg Stadium.
This marks the first match of Group E where both competitors have also been drawn with Spain as well as Sweden, who play later on tonight.
Poland manager Paulo Sousa suffered an injury crisis in the build-up to this summer’s delayed competition as he lost Crotone loanee Arkadiusz Reca, Derby defender Krystian Bielik and Hertha Berlin star Krzysztof Piatek to injury.
Napoli star Arkadiusz Milik, who spent the season on loan at Marseille and made the Euro 2020 squad, has also suffered a knee injury.
Southampton ace Jan Bednarek is also recovering from an ankle issue but is expected to be deemed fit for Poland’s kick-off match.
Bayern Munich superstar Robert Lewandowski is set to lead the attack, as expected, with the likes of Derby ace Kamil Jozwiak and PAOK’s Karol Swiderski fighting for a place next to the Bundesliga’s top scorer.
Slovakia manager Stefan Tarkovic, on the other hand, has been relatively free of any injury concerns as he will only be missing Slavia Prague forward Ivan Schranz due to a thigh injury.
Trabzonspor signing Marek Hamsik had been dealing with a calf issue but it was confirmed that the midfielder took part in full training without any problems
Credit: Getty
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
