The Bayern Munich forward had the fewest touches of any outfield player in Monday’s defeat
Slovakia boss Stefan Tarkovic was full of praise for his side after they neutralised Robert Lewandowski, with the Poland forward admitting he was left frustrated by his team’s inability to pick up points against the “weakest opponent in the group”.
Led by a goal from Milan Skriniar and an own goal from Wojciech Szczesny, Slovakia stunned 10-man Poland to put a severe dent in Lewandowski and co.’s knockout round hopes.
Lewandowski was limited to just 37 touches, fewest among outfield players, while failing to put a shot on target as Poland suffered defeat.
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What was said?
“We managed to neutralise Lewandowski and score at the same time,” Tarkovic said. “Lewandowski plays a decisive role in the last third of the field, it was important to keep him out of the box.”
Added goalscorer and Man of the Match Skriniar: “He is one of the best, if not the best striker in the world. We prepared well for him and worked well as a team today.”
Poland in trouble
Playing in a group that also includes Spain and Sweden, Slovakia were pegged by many to be the weakest side in Group E.
However, they did more than enough to trouble Lewandowski and Poland, who were also left deflated by Grzegorz Krychowiak’s red card.
While they have two games to seal a spot in the knockout rounds, Lewandowski believes his team missed an opportunity.
“We lost to the theoretically weakest opponent in the group, which puts us in a difficult position,” he told TVP. “But we will do everything in our hands to perform better in the next games.”
Further reading
- Szczesny makes Euros history by becoming first goalkeeper credited with own goal
- ‘Goal of the tournament’ – Record-breaking Schick strike for Czech Republic
