PZPN

Poland struck twice in the first half and created several other chances. "I like my teams to play football that fans come to watch with enjoyment. It's not easy, it involves combination game. At times you can play more directly. It’s a style adapted to the players we have, to the wingers with pace and dribbling ability. We want to make the most of that. There’s still plenty to do. We rarely switch play quickly, which could open up space and allow players to build up speed", Urban analysed straight after the match.

Against Finland, Poland were forced to attack in possession. Compared to the match against the Netherlands, it was a completely new situation. We had a problem building up play because the Finns came out strong and approached with coordinated pressing. That wasn’t something that showed up in our pre-match analysis. Today they gave us very little space to switch the play. We had worked on ways of escaping the opponent's pressing. We had our difficulties, but if that’s the worst we face, I’ll happily take them. We created chances, scored goals and at the same time didn’t allow Finland to threaten our goal in the first half", said the coach.

One of the standouts across the two matches was Matty Cash. However, he did not appear on the pitch in the second half. "He wanted to carry on, but I convinced him there was no point. Towards the end of the first half he was already limping. He had a heavy quadriceps contusion, and during the game the muscle started to stiffen. Taking him off was only ever a matter of time", said Jan Urban, who after the match was warmly received by the fans, just like the players. During the game, the stands were even chanting the coach’s name. "My name? I heard them chanting Jan Furtok’s name!", said Urban, highlighting his close friend, before adding with a smile: "I am from here, from this region. Apparently I left a good impression here.

The coach refused to single out any particular player. "It was the whole team. I can see the atmosphere is very good, and we’ve already reached a point where the players actually want to come on international duty. They talk to each other, they observe each other. Sometimes that’s what it’s all about. The atmosphere is very good", he stressed.

The only concern for the head coach came late in the match, when Finland scored and created a few more chances. "I thought we had become too convinced the game was already under control – that Finland couldn’t hurt us anymore. You cannot afford to think like that. Mentality is incredibly important. Once an opponent pulls a goal back, even if that wasn’t yet the case here, uncertainty can creep in. A single incident can sometimes change the course of a game. Making many substitutions doesn’t always help stability or rhythm, but rotations are still necessary", said Urban, who also expected more from his substitutes. "Against the Netherlands they looked great. This time I wasn’t entirely satisfied. Again, it’s a matter of mentality. What mattered to me was how the team would perform as favourites. From experience, I know that it is not easy – sometimes favourites can’t handle the pressure. In the first half the team were excellent. We took our chances and gave Finland absolutely nothing. After the changes in the second half, it was different. Things won’t always run as smoothly as they did in the first half", Urban concluded.