The long-awaited clash between Poland and Portugal is scheduled to begin at 7:45 p.m. (8:45 p.m. local time) on Saturday at the National Stadium in Warsaw, with Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk blowing the whistle.
Poland coach Michal Probierz said on Friday that although Portugal has several players among the world’s elite, he is convinced his team is ready to “give” the Portuguese side “a bad day” in the UEFA Nations League.
“Portugal has players who have been ‘developed’ from a young age. They possess the ability to control the ball and can change the course of a match at any time. We have Robert Lewandowski, who is one of the best players in the world. They have many Robert Lewandowskis,” said Probierz during the pre-match press conference ahead of the third day of Group A1 at the National Stadium in Warsaw.
The 52-year-old coach, who succeeded Fernando Santos as coach of the Polish national team in September 2023, stressed that his team is “more experienced” after their participation in Euro 2024, despite an early elimination in group stage. He expressed his wish to give Portugal “a bad day” on Saturday.
“We intend to be aggressive against Portugal and we will try to show that we can play football too. If we have a good day, anything can happen. We want to be at our best and give our rival a hard time,” said Probierz.
The boss insisted that Poland must adapt to “growing up” in matches against top teams and aims to get more wins against bigger opponents.
“Right now, every time we beat a big team, the next day is practically a holiday because it doesn’t happen often. We have to win regularly to get people used to success,” he concluded.
At the same press conference, Nicola Zalewski recognized the “big names” representing Portugal, but expressed confidence in achieving a positive result for Poland.
“We all know that Portugal has a very good team. It’s not just Cristiano Ronaldo. There is Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leão, for example. They are a very strong team, but we are also strong and we want to win this match. This is a crucial match for us because after our last defeat against Croatia, we need to emerge victorious,” said the 22-year-old Roma winger.
The Poland – Portugal match is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. (8:45 p.m. local time) on Saturday at the National Stadium in Warsaw, with Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk.
Three days later, the Portuguese national team will face Scotland in Glasgow, also at 7:45 p.m.
After two days, Portugal, having won 2-1 against Croatia and Scotland, leads the group with six points, ahead of Croatia and Poland, who have three points, and Scotland, who remain without points.
The first two teams from each of the four groups of League A of the fourth edition of the tournament will advance to the quarter-finals.
Portugal won the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League in 2019, beating the Netherlands 1-0 in the final at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, thanks to a goal from Gonçalo Guedes.
