The captain of the Poland football team, Robert Lewandowski, considered the decision “appropriate” to suspend Russia from their World Cup playoff semi-final which had been due to take place later this month, with Poland advancing to the final. ‘Probably each of us could not have imagined a different situation’, he said.
On Tuesday, FIFA confirmed that Russia have been removed from the qualification process for the 2022 World Cup. The decision comes in the wake of the country’s ongoing war in Ukraine, with Poland given a bye into the Path B playoff final on March 29.
Poland had been due to face Russia in the semi-final of the playoff process days earlier, but following the invasion of Ukraine, the Polish FA and players made it clear that they did not want to face Russia.
Poland will now face either Sweden or the Czech Republic in the final.
‘Probably each of us could not have imagined a different situation. I think this is the right decision. It would be difficult to choose the team with whom we could play in the qualification semi-finals (instead of Russia – editorial note), because any of those that would not be selected would feel disadvantaged. ’
‘For us, the most important thing will be to focus on the preparations on the final game, play it as best we can and do everything we can to advance to the final stage of the World Cup in Qatar’ – Lewandowski said in an interview with Polsat Sport after a record-breaking Champions League performance for Bayern Munich.
Poland will play for the promotion to the World Cup Final on March 29 with the winner between Sweden and the Czech Republic.
‘The final qualification match will be interesting. The training under our new coach will be beneficial for us. It doesn’t matter if we would play two games or one. In terms of the fact that we only have to win one match and surely we will be in the World Cup Final Stage.’ Lewandowski analyzed.
At the beginning of this week, the Bayern Munich and Poland star, Lewandowski cut his ties with Huawei amid reports the Chinese technology company is helping Russia amid invasion of Ukraine.
Apex Football News 