The Star Malaysia

It’s all or nothing

Poland’s bereszynsk­i: Cautious approach due to fear of injury not the way to go

- — Reuters

POLAND defender Bartosz Bereszynsk­i does not hold back in training for fear of getting injured and tries not to think too much about the possibilit­y of that happening, he said.

France striker and Ballon d’or winner Karim Benzema is the latest addition to the list of players who were ruled out of the World Cup after sustaining an injury in training one day before the start of the tournament.

“If I was thinking this way, I wouldn’t have been training at full capacity for the last three months,” Bereszynsk­i told a news conference when asked about Benzema.

“(Thinking this way) everyone would have in their minds the fact that the tournament is coming up and you have to watch out for any kind of injury that could take you out of it.”

Poland also experience­d an unexpected change to their squad when goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski sprained an ankle playing for his club Spezia in their last Serie A match before the World Cup break, one week ahead of the tournament.

“There is no need to think too much about it,” Bereszynsk­i said.

“I believe that if you always train to the maximum, at 100%, these injuries do not happen – or maybe they happen less often, because the body is prepared for different types of injuries or collisions.

“Personally, in every appearance I try to prove and show that

I’m the one who should be playing, I think it’s a healthy competitio­n and that’s how it should be and then it’s up to the coach to decide.

“Each of us gives their best in friendlies and in training, to make sure that they’re the ones who make the line-up, for example in Tuesday’s (today’s) match.”

Poland kick off their World Cup campaign today against Mexico, and face Saudi Arabia and Argentina in their other Group C games.

 ?? — ap ?? It’s all about fitness: Poland’s bartosz bereszynsk­i (right) believes that proper training will help players avoid injuries.
— ap It’s all about fitness: Poland’s bartosz bereszynsk­i (right) believes that proper training will help players avoid injuries.
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