Robert Lewandowski injured? A goal by the Polish captain despite the pain

The captain of the Polish national team and the striker of FC Barcelona, ​​as expected, started the Lithuania-Poland match in the middle of the attack. “Lewy” as the captain of the national team is almost a traditional image. With a small break, which is probably not worth returning to in this broader context.

Robert Lewandowski injured? A telling picture in Kaunas

In the case of “Lewy”, one of the most important topics over the last several months has been health problems. Lewandowski missed the end of the 2024/25 season and part of the pre-season before the current campaign due to problems with his left thigh. FC Barcelona had to cope without its best scorer, who turned 37 in August this year.

For this reason alone, the fact that Lewandowski went onto the pitch in Kaunas for the second 45 minutes with a badly wrapped left thigh, the one with which there were such problems, may be disturbing. However, the captain did not want to take advantage of the change, wanting to support the national team. Regardless of how this situation ultimately ends, there is no doubt that such an image may slightly worry fans – not only of the Polish national team – but also of the Spanish champions.

We can only hope that it was more a matter of prevention and the player’s needs, but not necessarily a matter of playing with pain, with the risk of possibly worsening the injury, if one were to actually occur. However, since Lewandowski started without a thigh brace and left after the break with one bandaged, it makes sense to ask questions about the health of the national team captain.

On the other hand, Lewandowski’s goal also confirms how much he is needed by the Polish national team. The 2-0 score calmed down the situation on the pitch in Kaunas. This is goal number 87 in the Pole’s national team career.

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 average play of the Poles and conflicts on the pitch. Even the most high-profile coach with Robert Lewandowski, deprived of the captain’s armband and… resigning from playing in the national team as long as Touchstone 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.