Goal by Sebastian Szymański. This is how the Poles opened the match!

The opening score of the Lithuania-Poland match took place in the 15th minute of the first half. A very unusual goal, because it was scored… directly from a corner kick. The goal was scored by Sebastian Szymański. A player who received a chance from coach Jan Urban after a poor performance in a friendly match against New Zealand (1-0).

Szymański crossed well, but the ball passed all the players and… effectively fell into the net.

Rescue from Jan Urban? PZPN with direction after the Michał Probierz era

It is worth recalling that coach Michał Probierz started the qualifying rounds for next year’s World Championships as a coach. The Polish coach remained in his position after last year’s European Championships, where the team failed to advance from the group. The Poles recorded only one point, although in a clash with the world vice-champions, the French (1:1).

Ultimately, however, as the following months showed, they highlighted the Poles’ mediocre play and on-pitch conflicts. Even the loudest one, the coach with Robert Lewandowski, deprived of the captain’s armband and… resigning from playing in the national team as long as Probierz is the coach. Additionally, the Poles lost a very important away game against Finland (1:2), complicating their situation in the World Cup qualifying group.

After the unsuccessful international break in June, the Polish Football Association left Probierz in his position, but the coach, under increasing pressure, decided to resign. He was succeeded by Jan Urban. The former Polish representative, most recently the coach of Górnik Zabrze, had a very successful start to his career, in September drawing on a difficult terrain in Rotterdam with the Netherlands (1:1), and then winning against Finland (3:1) in Chorzów. The atmosphere around the team cleared up significantly, and the aforementioned Lewandowski returned to the team, regaining the captain’s armband.