The reaction of the Polish media to the defeat of the team from France is surprising.
The Polish national team has completed its performance at the World Cup. Based on the dry result, we can say with confidence that the White Eagles showed themselves with dignity and even exceeded expectations – the team has not reached the playoffs of the World Cup since 1986. Nevertheless, for the last match in Group C against Argentina, the Poles received an avalanche of criticism from fans and experts – primarily for anti-football and a frank “bus”.
However, after the defeat from France (1:3) in the ⅛ finals, the rhetoric of the Polish press changed to commendable. Yes, the Poles looked good in segments. But is this really enough for flattering reviews?
It seems that only Poland itself is enough.
At home they don’t “poison”
In the opinion of many, Poland’s team did not even close to earning a place in the playoffs with their performance in the group stage. In the first match with Mexico, the Poles pulled out a draw, although the game looked much less acute than the Latin Americans. In the next meeting with Saudi Arabia, history repeated itself almost like a blueprint, but this time the wards of Cheslav Mikhnevich even managed to win, also with a confident score of 2:0.
Polish gloom culminated in the match against Argentina, in which the White Eagles cowardly defended 0-2 until the final whistle to beat the Mexicans in the group thanks to fair play points. In the ⅛ finals, Poland fell to the reigning world champion France, and against the backdrop of such a weak performance in the group stage, no one gave the Poles a chance. However, in this match, they finally remembered football, albeit only in episodes.
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From the first minutes, the French took over the advantage, but the Poles still snapped: they aggressively pressed and tried to meaningfully counterattack. It didn’t turn out very well, but Poland had killer chances at the end of the first half – they could well have scored. In the second half, this trend in the game of the Poles with every minute came to naught, which was reflected in the scoreboard.
In the last minutes, fate gave the Red-Whites a penalty after the ball hit the hand of the French defender. From the second time, Robert Lewandowski hit – this was the end of Poland’s path to the World Cup. In their last game, the team pleased a little more than before. However, there was no hint of a bright game. Nevertheless, this was enough for the Polish press for positive reviews:
Zbigniew Mucha (PilkaNozna.pl): The beginning of the match turned out to be ambiguous, but then our team played in such a way that we felt proud. It was for real. This match gave me hope. If Mikhnevich manages to finally stage such a bold and open game, as in the match with France, and even combine it with the results, then we approve of such a scenario.
Marek Lavrzynowski (Onet.pl): With France, the Poles entered the field for the fourth time in this World Cup, but for the first time they played football. Previously, they were engaged in some other sport. It is not entirely clear what to call what they played. But seriously, in the match with France, Poland showed that it still knows how to play football.
Radoslav Maidan (Onet.pl): We played primitive football with Mexico and Argentina, and I hope that this match with France will give the coach more courage, perhaps more faith in these players. With tricolors, we looked very different.
Overview of PilkaNozna.pl: The Poles played with high pressure, were not afraid of the French, and, most importantly, there was no ultra-defensive tactics demonstrated before. There was cunning, quality and hitherto unheard of… scoring chances. World champions did not expect such fighting Poles.
For the most part, it is difficult to disagree with the comments of Polish journalists. However, it is only surprising that the Polish team assessed itself at this World Cup too soberly. It seems that the sensational victories of the same Japanese, Saudis and Koreans did not inspire pragmatic Poles.
Cheslav Mikhnevich and his wards approached the tournament pragmatically – they made it to the playoffs thanks to frank anti-football. And before the match with the French, it seems that they did not even think about a possible victory. Are such teams needed at the World Cup? It seems the answer is obvious. The victory of the French team can be doubly rejoiced.
