New Delhi: Poland become the first team to get eliminated from this year’s UEFA Euro campaign after suffering a frustrating 3-1 loss against the Austria. Considering their performances in previous few Euro campaigns, very few were expecting them to make it out of their group. Their team faced some major problems right from the beginning as they had to start the campaign with their talisman Robert Lewandowski aftee he tore his biceps right before the first matchday where they showed good spirit against Netherlands but were left disappointed at the very end as Netherlands scored a late goal to win the match 2-1.
Their poor start to the campaign continued in the next match as they had a poor performance against Austria where they conceded 3 goals and the defence looked shakier than ever. This defeat confiremd their early elimination from Euros which led to a lot of questions on how can team consisting of some highly reputed players such as Robert Lewandowski, Piotr Zielinski and Wojciech Szczesny get knocked this early?
Lack of firepower
Poland were in scorching form coming into Euro 2024 campaign having defeated Turkey and Ukraine in back-to-back friendly matches, with scores of 2-1 and 3-1, respectively. Their biggest weakness has been their inability to score goals without the assistance of the talisman, goal-scoring machine, Robert Lewandowski. Later as the campaign started, his availability was still not confirmed, but right before their first game against Netherlands, it was confirmed that he won’t be playing the game after he tore his biceps.
Besides Robert Lewandowski, they had another goal scorer missing out due to a meniscus injury, Arkadiusz Milik. The Juve centre forward could’ve had an impact with his experience on the pitch but was unfortunate to miss out on Euro 2024 campaign.
However, Adam Buska’s goal against the Netherlands in the 16th minute gave them optimism and helped them start their campaign on a high note. After their curtain-raising encounter, they were left empty-handed at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg due to goals from Cody Gakpo and the inevitable Wout Weghorst. Despite a very decent performance, the Polish were unable to get the job done due to their lacking in finishing as only one of their seven shots on target found the net out of the 12 that they took in the entire match.
Defensive collapse against Austria
Gernot Trauner’s early goal placed them in danger of losing their match against Raulf Rangnick’s Austria, but Krzysztof Piatek, playing through the center in Lewandowski’s absence, gave them hope with an equalizer in the 30th minute. As the match progressed, Poland suffered another blow after Marko Arnautovic converted a penalty giving Austria a 2-1 lead, while Christoph Baumgartner’s goal added further misery for the Polish fans.
However this time, it was the defensive unit that just couldn’t contain the Austrian threat conceding three against them. They improved considerably in terms of keeping the possession and firing at enemy territory but the defensive unit allowed far too many shots on target. It could’ve been a lot worse for the Polish side but their captain made sure that they do not concede any further making a total of six saves throughout the 90 minutes.
Tough group
Poland were a part of group D where they had to face tough competition against the likes Netherlands, to whom they lost 2-1 in the opening matchday, Austria, a side with some real intent who eventually beat the Polish 3-1 and 2016 Euro finalists France who are yet to face them at the final matchday of group stages. Poland never looked like the favourites to make it out of their group and eventually their campaign turned into a complete nightmare as they suffered an early elimination with a match left.
Euro 2024 was a complete horror show for Poland as they became the first team to get eliminated from the competition. So what went wrong for the Polish side that saw them getting eliminated with a match to spare? Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
