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Football: Poland in training ahead of World Cup

14.11.2022 07:30
Poland’s national soccer team is starting a training camp ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.
Poland captain Robert Lewandowski.
Poland captain Robert Lewandowski.Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

The team will hold two training sessions in Warsaw and play a warm-up game against Chile before heading out to Qatar on Thursday, according to officials.

A total of six training sessions are planned before the Poles play their first World Cup game against Mexico on November 22.

Manager Czesław Michniewicz last Thursday named his final 26-man lineup for the tournament.

The squad is led by Barcelona star striker Robert Lewandowski and includes other regulars such as Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, Napoli midfielder Piotr Zieliński, and Juventus forward Arkadiusz Milik.

Meanwhile, FC Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara earned a last minute call-up to the Poland fold after Bartłomiej Drągowski suffered an injury while playing for his Italian club Spezia on Sunday, according to an announcement.

Poland will play Chile in a pre-World Cup friendly in Warsaw on Wednesday.

The match will be played at the Legia Warsaw Stadium. It will not be held at the National Stadium as planned due to a construction defect, according to officials.

A day later the Polish team will depart for Qatar.

The 2022 World Cup will be held from November 20 to December 18.

Poland begin their World Cup group-stage campaign against Mexico on November 22. They then play Saudi Arabia in their qualifying Group C four days later before taking on Argentina on November 30.

Poland, captained by Lewandowski, qualified for the 2022 World Cup after defeating Sweden 2-0 in a playoff at home in late March.

Meanwhile, the Polish Football Association (PZPN), the national governing body for the sport, said in a statement at the weekend that it was suspending cooperation with a bodyguard assigned to protect Lewandowski at the World Cup, over allegations by prosecutors that Dominik Gruszewski was a member of a criminal gang.

(gs) 

Source: IAR, PAPprzegladsportowy.onet.pl