Poland – Saudi Arabia
Michniewicz’s men prevailed 2-0 in an even match thanks to goals from Zielinski and Lewandowski
Poland achieved a capital victory this Saturday to be in the round of 16 of the World Cup. The team led by Czeslaw Michniewicz beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in a match that could have fallen for either team but which leaves the Europeans in a good position to advance to the next phase. A goal from Zielinski in the first half and another from Lewandowski in the final stretch of the clash were enough to knock down an opponent who was superior for many minutes but who paid dearly for the lack of gunpowder in attack and who will have to play it face to face or cross against Mexico in the last day.
The first part was quite a clash of styles. Poland was the physicist and Saudi Arabia the audacity, the impudence. Herve Renard’s pupils were still in that state of euphoria that caused the surprising victory against Argentina and that was noticeable from minute one. The ‘sons of the desert’ came out to show that they are a happy team.
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POLAND:
Szczesny, Cash, Glik, Kiwior, Bereszynski, Krychowiak, Bielik, Zielinski (Kaminski, min. 63), Frankowski, Milik (Piatek, min. 71) and Lewandowski. -
SAUDI ARABIA:
Mohammed Al Owais, Saud Abdulhamid, Al Amri, Al Boleahi, Al Breik (Al Ghannam, min. 65); Al Malki (Al Oboud, min. 85), Kanno, Al Buraikan, Al Najei (Al Abed, min. 46 / Bahebri, min. 95), Al Dawsari; Al Shehri (Al Dawsari, min. 85). -
GOALS:
1-0: min. 39, Zielinski. 2-0: min. 82, Lewandowski. -
REFEREE:
Wilton Sampaio. He booked Kiwior, Cash, Milik, Al Malki, Al Amri.
They pressed in the opposite field, the ball did not burn them and they even disturbed the rival goal, but they forgave and paid dearly in the last few minutes that turned into an exchange of blows. Michniewicz’s men took the lead after a drop from Lewandowski that Zielinski took advantage of to open the scoring, while the Asians had an unbeatable opportunity from eleven meters but ran into a memorable double intervention by Szczesny before going through the changing rooms.
After the restart, history repeated itself. Herve Renard doubled the bet by bringing on Al Abed for Al Najei and his team began a permanent siege against a Poland that had no choice but to give up meters and wait for the counterattack. That scenario led to a hectic match in which Michniewicz kept several aces up his sleeve.
Al Dawsari put Szczesny to the test after a rebound and Al Buraikan sent the Asians up one-on-one, while Milik and Lewandowski ran into the posts on two occasions that could mean the sentence of the match. There were two warnings that were finally going to bear fruit in the final stretch after a loss of the ball from Al Malki. Lewandowski took advantage of that mistake to open his World Cup account and put his team at the top of the table in the group stage.
