Hat-trick hero Buksa helps Poland to a comfortable victory over San Marino

Ever since his debut against Albania last Thursday, New England Revolution striker Adam Buksa has taken the international scene by storm, scoring four goals for Poland in 126 minutes worth of game time.

The forward was substituted into the San Marino game at the start of the second half as the White and Reds allowed the hosts a rare goal only two minutes later.

Kamil Piatkowski overhit his back pass to Michal Helik which saw the Barnsley defender chasing after San Marino’s forward Nicola Nanni. However, the chase was over and Nanni cleverly placed the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal past a diving Lukasz Skorupski.

With the game at 4-1, the hosts grew in confidence and were looking for another goal but they would not get it as Buksa scored his first in the 67th minute.

A lovely dinked ball from Helik found the six-foot-three forward at the back post as he nodded the ball beyond Elia Benedettini to score his second goal in two games.

Buksa found the net once more with a header in the 92nd minute. Lovely play down the right saw Piatkowski float the ball into the box with Poland’s number 14 nodding the ball in again to score his side’s sixth and his second of the game.

He completed his hat-trick in the dying embers of added time as Nicola Zalewski’s cross found his right boot and Buksa had the simple task of beating Benedettini from close range.

All in all, the introduction of Buksa onto the international stage has been perfect for Paulo Sousa. Poland’s manager has now found a player that is capable of scoring goals from whatever chances he is given.

His height also plays a massive part, as standing at six-foot-three, the forward is very good at latching onto set-pieces and can pick up the scraps when needed.

Wins are a must when you look at the team that Poland have, and with the addition of new players onto the international scene, the likes of Zalewski, Karol Swiderski, Buksa, Bartosz Slisz, Jakub Kamiński and Damian Szymański need to learn quickly from the experienced professionals in the national team.

The 7-1 victory against San Marino also gives the White and Reds a lot of confidence as they have only conceded twice, but more importantly, they’ve scored 11 goals in two games.

Poland’s biggest challenger for the top spot in Group I is England. The Three Lions have won all five of their qualifying matches so far and travel to Warsaw this week to face Paulo Sousa’s men at the PGE Narodowy in their final match during the September international break.

Buksa will look to step up and get chosen in the starting 11 by his head coach alongside the world-class Lewandowski, but the Portuguese manager faces a tough decision ahead of the encounter against England on Wednesday.

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