Argentina’s rival in Qatar, Poland beat Wales on their Nations League debut

On the way to Wembley with his players for the Grand Final against Italy, Lionel Scaloni was unable to follow live the duel that was taking place at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, although he will certainly see him in these days and will be able to draw conclusions about Polandthe third rival that the Argentine team will face in the World Cup in Qatar, which this Wednesday defeated Wales 2-1 in a match corresponding to group A4 of the UEFA Nations League.

Any analysis of the Polish national team begins, is structured and ends with a name of six letters and a surname of eleven: Robert Lewandowski. Almost taken for granted when it comes to captain and top scorer in the history of the combined history of the old socialist republic (75 goals in 130 games) and one of the few players to stand on the world football podium in the last decade, whose ubiquitous figures in this period have been Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Despite being a ruthless scorer, the man who appears to have finished his spell at Bayern Munich is no classic striker with a range of action limited to the area. In the Polish cast, that role is filled by burly Adam Buksa. Lewandowski starts from behindsometimes even from his field, and from there he shows power, speed, skill and intelligence to find spaces.

A good example of this was the play he wove against the Welsh in the middle of the first half: he received the ball on his court and almost froze on the left sideline, beat Dylan Levitt with a cue, blocked with Jonny Williams and Chris Mephan and overtakes them, runs 35 meters, leaves Rhys Norrington-Davies on the road at the entrance to the area and finishes. A good response from goalkeeper Danny Ward prevented him from opening the scoringbut it showed its many qualities.

Of course: the presence of a player of this size makes him a magnet and sometimes leads his team-mates to look for him in situations where the scorer is not well positioned and which could find a better solution if the last player was someone else.

Beyond that stellar presence, the group led by Czeslaw Michniewicz showed an orderly and patient game, especially in the first half, with a midfield whose creative engine was Napoli player Piotr Zielinski, with Mateusz Klich and Jacek Góralski running along the flanks (much better in the advanced phase than in reverse) and with Grzegorz Krychowiak further back, sometimes supporting the central players.

The level of opposition the red-jacketed team encountered this Wednesday was, a priori, lower than what Argentina could present. Yet he had problems, especially in defense. Against a rival planted on the break, he was exposed in excess and was also complicated by errors in some of his central defenders, Kamil Glik and Jan Bednarek.

Although the goal that gave the Welsh lead in the sixth minute of the second half was not the result of a serious mistake, Jonny Williams found structures that simplified his task: received very freely and with time to maneuver to the edge of the area and sent off a shot that did not find the best response from goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, often a substitute in this team (the owner of the fence is Wojciech Szczesny, of Juventus).

The 15 minutes after that Williams goal were the worst for the Poles: they lost the ball and passed those of Cain in the background, complicated by the skill of Rabbi Matondo. In that segment, a higher caliber opponent could have resolved the duel.

But Wales forgave and the hosts reacted after that disconcerting pause. Michniewicz found answers in his freshmen, especially Jakub Kaminski. Lech Poznan winger equalized in the 27th minute, after an overflow of the lateral Tymoteusz Puchacz; and the maneuver of the second began, which continued with a shot by Lewandowski, a carom in two visiting defenders and Net touch by Karol Swiderskianother of the substitutes who replied in his minutes on the pitch.

Surely with some rotation in your lineup, the Poles will have three more trials in the League of Nations in the next few days: next Wednesday against Belgium in Brussels, Saturday 11th against Holland in Rotterdam and Tuesday 14th again against the Belgians, this time in Warsaw. Beyond the value of this race, in those duels and the two that his team will play in September (with the Netherlands in Warsaw and Wales in Cardiff), Michniewicz will finish outlining his team and the starting line-up with which will face the World Cup, in which they will face Mexico (November 22) and Saudi Arabia (26) before measuring the forces with Argentina on 30 at the end of group C.