The Poles did not complete the task in the match against the Czech Republic. Direct promotion to the Euro is impossible

Poles faced the last chance to directly advance to Euro 2024. Michał Probierz had to make several changes in the starting eleven, including: due to Piotr Zieliński’s illness. This did not result in a victory and the White and Reds will fight in the play-offs.

A dynamic start to the match

The Czechs quickly tried to take control of the match. In the 2nd minute, they carried out a dangerous attack on the left side of the pitch, which initially ended with our defenders being cleared, but after a while Doudera shot past the post. The Reds and Whites responded by attacking from the right sector, but Slisz’s cross ended with a restart from the goal guarded by Stanek. A longer attempt to keep the ball was also unsuccessful, although Zalewski managed to employ the visiting goalkeeper for the first time.

The first ten minutes proved that the fans would see a typical fighting match, in which both teams would try to look for the opponent’s mistakes. The Poles often played the ball from their own half, looking for a gap in the Czechs’ formation. In the 16th minute, Zalewski sent a sharp cross towards Świderski, who was in the penalty area, but it was too strong. A favorable situation occurred a few dozen seconds later and this time the Polish striker took a shot and scored a corner. The sixteen visitors got into trouble again, but it didn’t bring any results.

Jakub Piotrowski gave the Poles the lead

Polish fans held their breath for a moment when they saw Lewandowski lying on the pitch, holding his foot with a visible grimace of pain. Fortunately, he was able to continue playing. Michał Probierz’s players were more often in the opponents’ penalty area, trying to work out their defense, but the defense performed very well. The guests went on the offensive in the 24th minute. Provod tried the cross, but Bochniewicz successfully headed it out. Three minutes later, Doudera received an excellent pass behind Frankowski’s back, dropped to his right foot and shot, but did not surprise Szczęsny.

The game was calm for a few minutes, but the Czechs started attacking again. After half an hour of play, Doudera made another attempt to surprise with an attack from the left side, but to no avail. The Reds and Whites tried to gain an advantage from the front more often, sending long passes, but they were unable to break through the tight defense of Jaroslav Silhavy’s team. In the 36th minute, Provod broke through the second line of our team and his shot was blocked. The guests had a free kick, and Bochniewicz received a yellow card. Sadilek hit it way too high.

The ineffectiveness of earlier actions took revenge on the Czechs seven minutes before the end of the regular game time. Zalewski took the ball from the left side and ran with it down the wing, then crossed it into the penalty area. Świderski was waiting there, whose shot was blocked, but the ball went to Piotrowski, who changed the score to 1-0! The guests quickly won a corner kick after losing a goal and were unable to take advantage of it. Just before the break, Świderski was close to being lucky, but the defense knocked the ball out from under him.

Instant response from the Czechs at the beginning of the second half

Both coaches decided to make changes. Buksa appeared on the pitch in place of Świderski, and Chytila ​​and Kuchta were replaced by Hlozek and Cvancara. The Poles launched a quick attack, which Zalewski tried to complete, but Stanek was at his post. In the 49th minute, the Czechs responded with a counterattack from the right side, after which the ball was crossed by Coufal to Soucek, who equalized the score with a strong volley. This encouraged the guests to continue their offensive play, which this time did not result in a final result. The White and Reds took a free kick from around 25 meters and after a while, Buksa hit the ball, but it was too high.

In the 56th minute, Lewandowski was close to taking advantage of a defensive error. He recovered the badly kicked ball and tried to overshoot Stanek, but he shot over the crossbar. Bochniewicz was injured, so Peda had to replace him. After an hour of play, the guests had another corner kick, which almost ended in disaster for our team. Zima made a slight mistake and Szczęsny restarted. Brabec was shown a yellow card for a foul on Lewandowski. Buksa successfully recovered the ball from the right side and passed it to Szymański, but he missed the ball and sent it to the captain and possession was lost.

Draw at PGE Narodowy. Poland in the play-offs for Euro 2024

The Czechs did not stop attacking and kept the ball more often. Numerous crosses found no target and our defenders kicked the ball away. Soucek was seriously injured while fighting the Polish defense, which caused the game to be suspended for a while. After the restart, the visitors were very close to success again, and the hosts were very lucky that the shot was again too high. The Poles moved forward and Slisz shot from a distance, but it was blocked. In the 72nd minute, Zalewski received an excellent pass to complete the action, but he also shot into the Czech wall. Grosicki appeared on the pitch, replacing Szymański, while Lingr replaced Provod.

There was a quarter of an hour left in the match, and the White and Reds scored another free kick very close to the penalty area after a foul on Buks. Lewandowski’s shot was caught by Stanek. The Czechs moved the game to our half for a moment, but did not take advantage of their chance. The captain of the Polish national team had a chance to score a goal with his head, but at the last minute it was blocked and we had a corner. This one also did not bring the benefits expected by Polish fans. Doudera tried to surprise Szczęsny with a long-distance shot, but he missed the target. The Polish coach surprised by replacing Peda, who was replaced by Sebastian Szymański.

Two minutes before the end of the regular game time, the Poles launched a massive offensive. Piotrowski’s shot turned out to be much too high to surprise Stanek. Kral, Hlozek and Lingr still had a chance to increase the score and win, but they were wrong. Buksa was close to lucky after a corner kick, but his header was too high. After six added minutes, referee Daniele Orsato ended the match.