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Czeslaw Michniewicz, the Polish Mourinho: dark past, match-fixing and the strategy to stop Lionel Messi

DAYS BEFORE THE WORLD CUP STARTS, Marcelo Bielsa gave a talk in Warsaw about the Polish National Team. After having seen 50 games of the Águilas Blancas, El Loco offered all his tactical knowledge.

UOne of the people who was nurtured by his concepts was Czeslaw Michniewiczcoach of Poland, who arrived at Qatar 2022 bathed in criticism and looked at with suspicion, with an experience of just 9 games led on his resume.

CZeslaw Michniewicz was born in the Byelorussian SSR 52 years ago and took over as Poland coach in early 2022, replacing Paulo Sousabranded as irresponsible and inconsistent because from one day to the next he slammed the door and went to Flamengo, but not before leaving the funds in the Federation coffers. 300 thousand euros as a termination clause.

CWith Russia banned by FIFA, Poland made it to the final stage of the playoffs after finishing 2nd in the England group. The qualification was achieved after beating Sweden 2-0.

CWith 8 previous World Cup appearances, he has two third-place finishes to his credit (1974 and 1982)and three early eliminations in the group stage (2002, 2006 and 2018).

A Czeslaw Michniewicz got his chance after 19 years in Polish soccer and without an international tour. In his time as a player, his name was tainted by an alleged match-fixing in the 90s with Ryszard Forbrich, a well-known soccer figure nicknamed the Barber or the Capo.

SAs revealed by Wirtualna Polska, Michniewicz recorded 591 communications with Forbrich between July 2003 and October 2005. However, he was declared innocent and sued the journalist who was the author of the investigation. The progress of the case in Justice came to endanger the headquarters of Poland in Euro 2012.

CWith a few months in the position, the “Polish Mourinho” once again demonstrated his controversial profile when he excluded defender Maciej Rybus for having signed for the Spartak Moscow club.

SDefensive strength, low possession, direct play and offensive counterattack are the keys to the manual of Michniewicz, who has no problem changing the strategy according to the demands of the rival on duty.

LThe midfield was blocked for Mexico to take away the internal game and they endured it with more anguish than football against Saudi Arabia, with a stellar Wojciech Szczesny, to take a fundamental victory.

With a draw against Argentina, they will ensure the qualification to the round of 16, something that Poland has not achieved since 1986, but he already warned: “It is impossible to play 0-0”.

En the discursive also has its similarity with Mou. When he found out that he was playing Mexico in the World Cup, he said that he knew everything about his country from having seen the series about drug traffickers. The stupor was such that she had to go out to ask for forgiveness.

Then he gave an example Diego Maradona to defend Robert Lewandowski after missing a penalty in the debut against Mexico. And he assured that he will imitate the performance of the Italian Bruno Conti in the 1982 World Cup with Maradona to stop Messi.

A draw gives Poland qualification. “It is impossible to play at 0-0,” anticipated the Polish Mourinho ahead of the game against Argentina. (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP)

COVER PHOTO: Khaled DESOUKI / AFP

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