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Preview: Poland versus Germany

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 10.10.2014 12:26
History is not smiling on the Polish side as it gets set for its Euro 2016 qualifier against Germany on Saturday night.

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From left: Poles Waldemar Sobota, Sebastian Mila, Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik warm up for key clash against Germany on Saturday: photo - PAP/Bartłomiej Zborowski

Poland, equal top with three points with Ireland and Germany in Group D after one match in the qualifying stage of Euro 2016, have faced Germany 18 times but are still without a win.

While German coach Joachim Loew's side are world champions, Poland languishes in 70th place in the FIFA world rankings.

The German coach, who has led his side since 2006, has an impressive record, with 78 victories, 20 draws and only 16 defeats.

One possible advantage for coach Adam Nawalka's Polish side at the National Stadium in Warsaw is that they have five German-based players in their squad.

Striker Robert Lewandowski - who scored four times in their opening fixture against group minnows Gibraltar - knows the German players, and the German style of playing, well after spending four seasons in the Bundesliga with Borusia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

In that time, the 26-year-old has scored 105 goals in all competitions, so he knows how to get around a German defence.

Germany also have a mounting injury problem, with new captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira, Marco Reus, Mesut Ozil and Mario Gomez all unavailable.

If Poland are going to notch up their first win against the German side at the 19th attempt, now is as good as never.

Match starts at 20.45 CET, Saturday. (pg)

tags: Euro 2016
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