Lewandowski & Co brace for Senegal test
BIG FIGHT Battle between two of Europe’s most lethal forwards, the Polish captain and Liverpool’s Mane, could be decisive MOSCOW:
Robert Lewandowski and Sadio Mane face off in a mouthwatering World Cup shootout between two of European football’s most lethal forwards as Poland take on Senegal.
Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski finished the season as the Bundesliga’s top scorer for the third time with 29 goals, netting 41 times in all competitions.
Mane scored 10 Champions League goals -- including one in the final in Kiev — forming a devastating strike force at Liverpool alongside Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino of Brazil.
“I believe Sadio can be one of the stars of the tournament,” said former Senegal player El Hadji Diouf, who played in Japan and South Korea in 2002, the only previous time the country has reached the World Cup.
Poland go into the Group H match at Moscow’s Spartak Stadium as favourites and are expected to emerge from a section also featuring Colombia and Japan.
Ranked eighth in the world, it is Poland’s eighth appearance at the World Cup, with coach Adam Nawalka’s side desperate to improve on the third-place finishes in 1974 and 1982.
Lewandowski admits he has a point to prove after a disappointing Euro 2016, when he scored only once as Poland exited at the quarter-finals stage.
The 29-year-old is finally reproducing his prolific club form at international level, setting a European qualification record with 16 goals in 10 matches to secure Poland’s place in Russia.
Lewandowski said he was entering the tournament in a different frame of mind from 2016.
“I’m sure that training will be better now and that I’ll be fresh and dynamic at the right time,” he said. “I started preparing for the World Cup much earlier.”
‘ADVENTURE’
Poland received a boost in the lead-up to the tournament when defender Kamil Glik was cleared to play after an unexpectedly quick recovery from a shoulder injury.
The centre-back is one of the team’s leaders and his job will be to keep Mane quiet while remaining alert to other threats such as Monaco teammate Keita Balde. Since coming into the limelight with a four-goal haul for Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid in the Champions League in 2013, Robert Lewandowski has cemented his position as one of the top strikers.
Poland will be heavily reliant on the 29-year-old’s form. But Lewandowski’s failure in Euro 2016, where he found the net just once, has cast doubts on his ability to rise to the big occasion. FOR POLAND (overall) appearances
goals
FOR BAYERN (2017/18) appearances Senegal boasts of a well-rounded team where Everton’s Idrissa Gueye will marshal the midfield. In the front Stoke City’s Mame Biram Diouf, who netted six Premier League goals this season will be keen on keeping up his form. To Lewandowski’s credit though, he did deliver in the qualifying stages, ending the 2018 European World Cup qualifiers as the top scorer with 16 goals, one ahead of
Ronaldo.
His goals made up
57 per cent of Poland’s goals (16 out of 28), with Kamil Grosicki, the only other Pole to score more than one goal. Senegal also have centre back
Kalidou Koulibaly to fall back on. The 26-year-old, who combines his physical presence with intelligence and an excellent technique, has been a rock at the heart of the Napoli defence. Sadio Mane scored 10 goals in Liverpool’s historic run to the Champions League final, including in the final against eventual champions Real Madrid. But the 26-year-old's first appearance at a World Cup will also carry heavy expectations.
Only Mohamed Salah has been more influential in Liverpool's campaign as compared to the highest scoring Senegalese player in Premier League history.
Senegal will hope to emulate the pioneering team of 2002 captained by Aliou Cisse, now the national coach.
Cisse’s men opened that tournament
goals
MANE’S NUMBERS
FOR SENEGAL (overall) appearances goals
FOR LIVERPOOL (2017/18) appearances
goals with one of the great World Cup upsets, a 1-0 win over defending champions France, and went on to become one of only three African teams ever to reach the quarter-finals.
Cisse described it as “a great adventure” and wants his charges, ranked 27 in the world, to adopt the same fearless approach in Russia.
“That team already created its bit of history, and now it’s up to this one to create its own,” he told FIFA.com. Poland maybe unbeaten in their three games against African opposition at the World Cup but those games have produced only one goal.
Aside from their talisman, Poland will rely on the creativity of midfielder Kamil Grosicki, who was involved in 14 goals for Hull City in the Championship this season with nine goals and five assists.
Borussia Dortmund defender Lukasz Piszczek will also play a key role, having provided three assists from his full-back position, more than any other Polish player in Europe’s top five leagues. Won Drawn
Matches
Best finish: 3rd place in 1974, 1982
SENEGAL
Won Drawn Matches Lost Lost
Best finish: Quarterfinals in 2002
“We’ll have to go there without an insecurity complex, play our natural game and stick to our African identity, which defines our football.” Venue: Spartak Stadium, Moscow Piszczek Bednarek Pazdan Linetty Blaszczykowski Krychowiak Zielinski
Lewandowski FORMATION Rybus Grosicki Poland have lost six of their last eight World Cup games (W2). They have also failed to keep a clean sheet in those last eight games, their last shut-out dating back to their 1-0 win against Portugal in 1986. Senegal were unbeaten in their only previous group phase appearance at the 2002 World Cup (W1 D2).
Gassama Koulibaly Gueye Niang Tunisia win
Draw Capacity: 45,360
England win Mane
Sabaly Sane Kouyate Sarr Source: ladbrokes.com