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The new Poland manager, Paulo Sousa, has announced his 27-man squad ahead of the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Hungary, Andorra and England.
These matches will take place in the March international break as the White and Reds firstly face an away match against Hungary, followed by a home tie against Andorra and to finish the month, Sousa’s side will travel to England to face the Three Lions.
Goalkeepers
Sousa will have three goalkeepers at his disposal in the form of Lukasz Fabianski, Wojciech Szczesny and finally Lukasz Skorupski.
All three of them are playing regular football at their clubs with Skorupski starting 75% of the matches for Bologna, Szczesny starting 81% of the time for Juventus and Fabianksi in West Ham’s starting XI 93% of the time.
Fabianski and Szczesny have the most international experience with the Juve shot-stopper playing 49 times for Poland whereas the West Ham goalkeeper has 55 appearances to his name for the White and Reds.
Keeping these goalkeepers fit and healthy will be crucial for Sousa as they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience into the side alongside knowing how to motivate the players in front of them.
Some fans may question the Portuguese coach for not calling up Bartosz Dragowski or Rafal Gikiewicz instead of Skorupski, but the manager will look to understand his squad more going into his first match as Poland boss.
Defenders
Jan Bednarek, Kamil Glik, Arkadiusz Reca, Maciej Rybus and Bartosz Bereszynski were the familiar defensive call-ups for the national side.
The 50-year-old manager also opted to call-up Hellas Verona defender Pawel Dawidowicz, Rakow Czestochowa’s 20-year-old defender Kamil Piatkowski and Barnsley’s Michal Helik.
Only Dawidowicz has made an appearance for the senior national team between the trio with Piatkowski making appearances for the under 21’s and Helik been given his first chance for his national side at any level.
Bednarek, Glik, Reca, Rybus and Bereszynski have all experienced playing for the senior side and will hopefully give the trio when they are used added guidance on to relax and be themselves in any given situation.
Midfielders
Kamil Grosicki, Kamil Jozwiak, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Jakub Moder, Przemyslaw Placheta, Piotr Zielinski, Matuesz Klich and Sebastian Szymanski are the individuals that have some sort of experience playing in a Poland shirt at senior level and will look to bring their superb qualities to the table.
Ural Yekaterinburg’s Rafal Augustyniak, Legia Warszawa’s youngster Bartosz Slisz, 17-year-old Kacper Kozlowski and Kozlowski’s teammate Sebastian Kowalczyk are the four new faces that have been selected by Sousa.
Augustyniak has the most experience in the world of football being 27-years-old, but the trio named alongside him have an average age of 20.
It will be a massive step-up for Slisz, Kozlowski and Kowalczyk and it will be a real challenge for them to show off all their best assets to the Poland manager.
The base of the midfield is assured with Zielinski, Klich and Krychowiak all making numerous appearances for the national side, but there will be a huge battle on who plays the winger roles and it will be a tough choice Sousa will have to make on three separate occasions.
Forwards
There was no way Sousa would leave out the fantastic trio of Robert Lewandowski, Krzysztof Piatek and Arkadiusz Milik as the Portuguese manager names the three in his selection.
His fourth striker that he has called up is 24-year-old Karol Swiderski. The striker plays in Greece for PAOK as has nine goals and seven assists to his name in 25 appearances this season.
Having found fantastic form, he is the club’s top scorer in the league with his side currently sat in fourth in Greek’s Super League 1.
Plenty of eyes will be on Swiderski whether he can impress for Soussa against the three opposition he may get his chance again, but Lewandowksi will likely steal the show with his goals for the national side proven to be crucial and irreplaceable.
Sousa has mentioned that Lewandowski, Piatek and Milik are all doubts ahead of the trip to England at the end of the month due to travel restrictions and their clubs not wanting their strikers to quarantine after the trip to the UK.
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