Polish football team 'poorly prepared' for World Cup: sports minister

Poland on Sunday suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat to Colombia in their second match at the World Cup in Russia.

Poland lost 1-2 to Senegal in their first game at the tournament last Tuesday.

In their encounter with Colombia in Kazan, Poland were clearly the weaker side in terms of tactics, technique and mental strength, Sports Minister Witold Bańka said on Monday.

He told public broadcaster Polish Radio that the game confirmed his earlier concerns that the Polish team was not prepared well enough for the tournament physically.

"A mistake must have been made in physical preparations at some point,” he said.

Bańka last week said that the Polish squad lacked "freshness and energy on the pitch” during their World Cup opener against Senegal.

Squad lacked quality: Robert Lewandowski

Poland captain Robert Lewandowski said on Sunday that the Polish team lacked the quality needed to win the game against Colombia and retain a chance of advancing to the knockout stages of the World Cup.

"We fought and tried to do our best, but we couldn’t do anything more ... fighting is not enough to win World Cup matches, you also have to have quality," Lewandowski told Polish public television broadcaster TVP.

Poland entered the 2018 World Cup ranked No. 8 by the world football governing body FIFA.

Poland finished third in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany and were also third in Spain in 1982.

Teams from 32 nations are playing matches at 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities during this year's World Cup, which runs until July 15.

(gs)

Source: IAR/PAP