Football: Poland to play four friendlies ahead of World Cup

Poland will play two friendlies in March and another two in June, according to an official schedule released by the Polish Football Association (PZPN).

Manager Adam Nawałka’s men will take on Nigeria on home turf in the southwestern city of Wrocław on March 23, and then play South Korea at a revamped Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, in the country’s south, on March 27.

Poland will also play a friendly with Lithuania at the National Stadium in Warsaw on June 12.

Four days earlier, the team will face off against an as-yet unannounced opponent in a fourth fixture on home turf, officials said.

Nawałka will name the final 23-man lineup for the World Cup on June 5, the PZPN said.

The association also announced that the Arłamów Hotel in the heart of the picturesque Bieszczady mountains of southeastern Poland will be the official training base for the national squad ahead of next year's tournament in Russia.

The Polish football players will stay at the hotel from May 28 to June 7, under an agreement PZPN Secretary-General Maciej Sawicki signed with the hotel’s CEO Antoni Kubicki on Thursday.

Earlier, Nawałka’s men will make a trip to the coastal resort of Jurata in the north of the country for a battery-recharging stay at the local Bryza Hotel from May 21 to 26.

The World Cup in Russia kicks off on June 14 and runs until July 15.

Poland will play Senegal, Colombia and Japan in the group stage of the tournament, following a draw in Moscow in early December.

Nawałka's men were drawn into a cross-continental Group H and will open their campaign against Senegal in Moscow on June 19.

Poland will take on Colombia in Kazan on June 24 and play Japan in Volgograd four days later.

(gs/pk)

Source: PAP, Polsat Sport