Perhaps the most successful season of his career, the season ended in disappointment, but it was no longer a big surprise. Robert Lewandowski, the world footballer from FC Bayern, also showed his great class at this European Championship, scoring three goals, three out of four for the Polish national team, more than ever in his career at a tournament. But he could not prevent the preliminary round.
“He practically carried the team on his back. But all his efforts could not make up for his colleagues’ mistakes,” wrote the daily newspaper the day after the 3-2 draw against Sweden, which sealed Poland’s last place in the group Rzeczpospolita. Lewandowski was a “one-man siege machine”, noted the Gazeta Wyborcza: “But you can’t turn football into an individual game.”
Even at the start of the tournament, the team’s chances in Poland were viewed with skepticism, unlike in the quarter-finals in 2016, the captain in the squad has too few players of international stature by his side. He has now been eliminated from the preliminary round with the national team three times. “Mamma Mia, always the same!” She wrote Przeglad Sportowy.
After the 1-1 draw against Spain, when Lewandowski had hit with a header, hopes were raised again that a win against Sweden would have been needed to progress. But the game was more like the disappointing 1: 2 at the start against Slovakia. Again a grotesque mistake led to the deficit, Kamil Jozwiak stepped over the ball. The difference was an outstanding performance by Lewandowski. His flick to 1: 2 had “like a sip of fresh water in the desert”, wrote the Rzeczpospolita.
No matter how much he runs: Lewandowski cannot be in two places at the same time
Lewandowski cheered on his colleagues, that was different in the national team. He worked, dodged the wings, picked up balls and scored to make it 2-2. He was unlucky when he hit the crossbar twice in a row when the score was 0: 1 and Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen thwarted the chance to make it 3-2, a flanking ball. It was a symptomatic scene, followed by the next opportunity for a header for Poland in the middle. But Lewandowski couldn’t be in two places at the same time.
In Poland, the football debates are now about the future of the critically eyed coach Paulo Sousa, who has only been in office since the beginning of the year. In an astonishingly positive analysis, he mainly spoke about the tactical progress of the team. He would like to continue.
And Lewandowski? He will soon be 33, she Gazeta Wyborcza So asked, “Has the thought already crossed his mind that the chance of his life to be successful with Poland’s national team is already behind him?” But he has not yet spoken about it himself. “You have to digest it first, and it won’t be easy,” he said about the departure. “Sometimes, when you sit down at home or in a hotel for a few hours, that only affects you.” And those are then “the worst moments in the life of a footballer.”
Even if he knows these defeats from the tournaments every two years: It would hardly look like Robert Lewandowski if they didn’t continue to annoy and encourage him.