Warsaw (AFP) – Adam Nawalka leads Poland to their third straight European Championship finals with the country determined to reach the knock-out stages of a major tournament for the first time in 30 years.
Bayern Munich’s hot-shot striker Robert Lewandowski will spearhead the Poland attack in Group C where they will meet world champions Germany, fellow Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine and outsiders Northern Ireland.
Poland’s head coach Nawalka is confident they can reach the knock-out stages of either a World Cup or European Championship for the first time since bowing out of Mexico ’86 with a 4-0 defeat to Brazil in the last 16.
And Nawalka knows what it will take in France.
He played as a midfielder in Poland’s 1978 World Cup campaign in Argentina when they finished top of their group ahead of West Germany having held the 1974 world champions to a goalless draw in Buenos Aires. They bowed out in the second round.
But Nawalka also knows that Poland’s record from their two previous European Championship finals appearances is poor.
They have not win in six matches and have scored just three goals at the finals.
They finished bottom of their group at both Euro 2008 and four years ago when they co-hosted the Euro 2012 finals.
It was a far cry from the Cold War era when ‘Biało-Czerwoni’ (White and Reds) finished third at the 1974 and 1982 World Cup finals with world-class forwards Grzegorz Lato and Zbigniew Boniek to the fore.
Now Nawalka wants to bring back the glory days to Polish football and says his current group can deliver — but it will be tough.
“Our group at Euro 2016 is formidable. The Germans are the favourites and the others, Ukraine and Northern Ireland, will be fighting to get out of the group,” said the 58-year-old, who took charge of Poland in October 2013.
“But we are ready and confident of moving to the next stage.”
– Neighbourly rivalry –
There is reason for optimism, based on the qualifying campaign.
Poland enjoyed their first win over neighbours Germany at the 19th attempt with a 2-0 win in Warsaw in October 2014 and sealed a 2-1 home win over the Republic of Ireland last October.
They ultimately finished second in their qualifying group, one point behind Germany.
In March’s 5-0 friendly romp against Finland, Poland proved they remain an attacking threat without Lewandowski as wingers Kamil Grosicki of Rennes and Pawel Wszolek of Verona both netted twice.
However, their build-up for the finals has featured a 2-1 home defeat to the Netherlands and a 0-0 draw with Lithuania.
Competition to be in the starting line-up for the first Euro 2016 game against Northern Ireland on Sunday in Nice is fierce.
“There is a healthy rivalry within the squad and it pleases me a lot,” said Nawalka.
“We are prepared mentally, and aware that we are progressing constantly in terms of defence and attack. We are optimistic.”
He says there is much more to his current team than just Lewandowski with the experience of Blaszczykowski (Fiorentina), Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund) and Arkadiusz Milik (Ajax) having grown since the failed Euro 2012 campaign.
“Robert is the absolute star of the team, but we are not a team of one player,” said Nawalka.
“Of course, we are aware of his class and its impact on the results of matches, but we do not forget the other players.”
