Poland were one of the most impressive teams during the qualifiers of Euro 2016, scoring as many as 33 goals. With Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski leading the line for Poland, they are always going to be a huge threat, which will be witnessed by the Netherlands, who will face the Polish team at Stadion Energa Gdańsk on Wednesday in an international friendly.
Not only were Poland remarkable in the qualifying campaign, they played some sensational football in friendlies against Finland and Serbia in March. Poland thrashed Finland 5-0 and got the better of Serbia 1-0. It is such dominant performances, which Netherlands need to deal with. Poland seem to have made a habit of winning, as they are on a five-match winning-streak .
There seems to be an air of confidence in the way the Polish players play their attacking game, irrespective of the opponent, which is quite impressive going into Euro 2016. Captain Lewandowski believes their coach Adam Nawalka has been doing some great planning during the training sessions, which can be observed during their matches. One notable tactic has been their potency in dead ball situations.
"When it comes to setpieces, Poland might be even better than Bayern Munich," Goal.com quoted Lewandowski as saying by Przeglad Sportowy.
"You can clearly see the coach's hand in it. Nothing happens by coincidence. We have set patterns that can earn us goals. We are not strong enough to just ignore the chance to do something extra from corners and free kicks. We do not create so many chances from open play that we can pass up the chance to make the most of our set pieces."
Poland made it to the Euros from the qualifying stages, but Netherlands, who were poor, finished fourth in Group A, which has led to their absence from Europe's premier event. They do have some well-known players like Luuk de Jong, Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum, who will all be keen to show their team belong on the world stage. They will have a thing or two to prove when they face Poland.
Netherlands were held to 1-1 draw by Northern Ireland in their last friendly, where De Jong scored a goal in the 85th minute. But the Netherlands needs to play better football if they are to defeat Poland.
The Dutch have already received a huge blow as their defender Daley Blind will miss the international friendlies against Poland and Austria due to a calf injury. Coach Danny Blind is expected to make some changes to his team which played against Northern Ireland.
"The original plan was to make a number of changes for the friendly against Poland," Goal.com quoted Blind as saying to NOS. "I will not change the team in its entirety. But I could make three or four changes. Daley Blind is still struggling after picking up a knock in the FA Cup final. We won't take any risks with him.
"We have to be careful. These are important games for us, but still friendly games. We are not talking about a qualifier."
Where to watch live
The international friendly between Poland vs Netherlands is scheduled to start from 8:45 p.m. local time (12:15 a.m. IST and 7:45 p.m. BST, 2:45 p.m ET) start. Unfortunately, there will be no live coverage of this game in India and the UK.
Netherlands fans can watch the game live on SBS 6, while Polish viewers can watch it live on TVP Sport.
Poland vs Netherlands can be watched in US on beIN Sports, with live streaming on beIN Sports Connect. France viewers can watch the game on beIN Sports 2.
