Robert Lewandowski’s Poland take on already eliminated Ukraine today in the final Euro 2016 Group C match for both sides with a draw enough to take Poland through to the knockout stages.
Even a defeat would suffice for coach Adam Nawalka’s side if Northern Ireland lose to Germany, who Poland held to a scoreless draw in the Stade de France in Paris on Thursday last week.
Poland will look to fine-tune their attack because having scored 33 goals in qualifying, more than any other team, they have hit the net just once in two games at Euro 2016.
With Bayern Munich superstar Lewandowski yet to open his account, his strike partner Arkadiusz Milik stepped up against Northern Ireland to score their only tournament goal to date.
Despite Lewandowski’s second blank in a row against Germany, Nawalka has praised his star man’s work ethic, which he says is opening up more opportunities for Milik.
“Robert Lewandowski in every single match is incredibly important for our game plan,” Nawalka said after the Germany game.
The win against Northern Ireland was Poland’s first ever European Championship victory and by making it to the round-of-16 they would qualify for a knockout rounds for the first time in three appearances at the tournament.
With no serious injury issues, Nawalka’s only headache is whether to start Bartosz Kapustka, who earned plaudits when he came on as a substitute against Northern Ireland.
With two defeats against Germany and Northern Ireland, disappointing Ukraine became the first team to be eliminated and have only pride to play for at the Stade Velodrome.
Even if Mykhaylo Fomolenko’s team beat Poland they cannot overtake third-placed Northern Ireland, as Michael O’Neill’s side would remain above Ukraine on head-to-head advantage.
A glum Taras Stepanenko said after the defeat to Northern Ireland that Ukraine had failed their “do-or-die” test.
“We need to defend the honor of our team, the country and ourselves, and we are playing against our neighbors, Poland — it’s a derby and of course we’d like to go home with some positive emotions. We’d like to play good football and get a result,” Stepanenko told the UEFA Web site.
The Marseille clash will be the the first meeting in a major tournament between the sides.
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