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Czesław Michniewicz: This is a well-deserved advancement
Despite a 0–2 loss with Argentina, the Polish national team got out of the group at the World Cup after a 36-year break. "I'm happy because we fully deserved this advancement. We scored four points in the group and achieved a better goal difference than our rivals," said after the match the head coach of the White-and-Reds, Czesław Michniewicz.
The final minutes of the Wednesday match were extremely stressful. Another goal for Argentina or a goal scored by Mexico in the parallel game would have Poles bid farewell to the tournament. When the final whistle of the referee sounded at Stadium 974, the Polish team was left hoping that the Saudis wouldn't let in another goal. "It was nerve-wracking. On the one hand, we lost our match and had to rely on the help of another team. On the other hand, we achieved a better goal difference, so this is a well-deserved advancement," Michniewicz argued.
The head coach did not hide his satisfaction at having fulfilled the goal set for him before the World Cup, but at the same time he was not satisfied with Wednesday's match. "I deeply regret that we played so restlessly. The fact that Argentina had many situations in the first half was due to our simple mistakes: the reception, the passing, the bad choices. We talked about it at half-time," Michniewicz said. "Something better could have been born from our suffering on the pitch. I especially regret the moments in the first half when, thanks to Bielik or Krychowiak, we received the ball in the central zone. We lacked forward play. After the half-time, we hoped that the wingers would do it, but after the quickly lost goal there were fewer receptions. The Argentinians scored a goal quickly and were able to play to maintain the score. Their attitude has changed. They were no longer thinking about scoring a goal as quickly as possible, but about tiring us out. In turn, they increased the score," said the head coach, adding that there was no point complaining anymore, rather we should be happy about the advancement.
Twenty minutes before the end of the match, Bartosz Bereszyński had to leave the pitch due to an injury. Coach Michniewicz admitted that it was not a new injury. "Bartek had played the previous two matches with gritted teeth due to an injury. Today, towards the end, he said he couldn't do it any longer. He was replaced by the experienced Artur Jędrzejczyk. We knew why we were taking him to the tournament, as was the case with Damian Szymański who also entered the pitch today. We can count on them in difficult moments."
