Lech’s ex-players in the World Cup squad

Among the most experienced footballers such as Robert Lewandowski who are first-choice players for the national team coach, Nawalka also decided to take a number of Lech’s homegrown players to Russia. One of them is Jan Bednarek who’s been a surprise. The 22-year old joined Southampton last year and it took him a long time to find a spot in the starting line-up. The defender debuted for the senior team in April this year, in a clash with Chelsea that the Saints lost 2:3. Bednarek’s good performance resulted in more minutes on the pitch. Polish national team coach noticed the defender’s great form too and decided to take the young player to Russia.

Dawid Kownacki also made a positive impression on Nawalka with his exemplary commitment and hard work. The young forward had a successful first season in Serie A. In addition, Kownacki played in the March sparring match against Nigeria alongside Robert Lewandowski. His performance proved that the striker was capable of adding value to the team. Karol Linetty and Bartosz Bereszynski, who debuted in Lech’s senior team and now compete for Sampdoria too, were also called up by Adam Nawalka.

Lukasz Teodorczyk will play alongside previuosly mentioned Lewandowski and Kownacki in Poland’s offensive line. Slawomir Peszko and Lukasz Fabianski, who also used to play for Lech Poznan, are a part of the Polish squad too. In addition, the coach decided to take Marcin Kaminski to Russia. The 26-year old defender was among the list of substitutes for the World Cup squad, however, since Kamil Glik suffered an unfortunate injury during one of the training sessions, Lech’s ex-player took his spot.

POLAND’S SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP 2018 IN RUSSIA:

Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczęsny, Łukasz Fabiański, Bartosz Białkowski
Defenders: Michał Pazdan, Łukasz Piszczek, Maciej Rybus, Bartosz Bereszyński, Thiago Cionek, Artur Jędrzejczyk, Jan Bednarek, Marcin Kamiński
Midfielders: Grzegorz Krychowiak, Piotr Zieliński, Kamil Grosicki, Karol Linetty, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Rafał Kurzawa, Sławomir Peszko, Jacek Góralski
Forwards: Robert Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik, Dawid Kownacki, Łukasz Teodorczyk