Contending teams Poland and Northern Ireland are set to meet at the Allianz Riviera in Nice on Sunday, June 12 to open their respective 2016 UEFA European Championship campaigns against one another.
Poland, ranked 27th in the world by FIFA, will be bannered by Bayern Munich striker and Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski, who will also act as head coach Adam Nawałka’s team captain.
Nawałka has all the right pieces to pull off a positive campaign for Biało-czerwoni with Lewandowski, who also topscored the Euro qualifiers and considered as the best center-forward in the tournament, spearheading the offense and Wojciech Szczesny and Kamil Glik stationed at the net and the backfield.
Midfielders Grzegorz Krychowiak and Jakub Blaszczykowski also play a key part in their system and will surely give any team headaches in matches.
Football pundits believe that the White Eagles are the dark horse of Group C as they could surprise either Ukraine or Germany to advance in the knockout phase of the competitions.
Poland played with less strength during their 0-0 Euro sendoff against Lithuania on Tuesday at the Stadion Miejski im Henryka Reymana in Krakow as Lewandowski and Szczesny rested for this opener against the Norn Iron, as per Daily Mail Online.
Meanwhile, world no. 25 Northern Ireland was also held to a 0-0 draw by Slovakia in their own pre-tournament friendly on Sunday at the Štadión Antona Malatinského in Trnava, via ESPN.
The Green and White Army are currently on a 12-game unbeaten streak dating to last summer’s competitions and will look to extend it against a tough Poland squad.
Northern Ireland finally qualified this summer after 30 years of being absent in the said tournament following their impressive performances under current manager Michael O’Neill.
They are said to be hoping to follow the footsteps of the country’s 1958 and 1982 World Cup teams that reached beyond the group stage, but they would have to overcome almost impossible odds to do it against the teams in this group, namely Poland, Germany, and Ukraine.
The predicted result is a tough 1-0 win for Poland.
Poland starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Szczesny; Piszczek, Glik, Cionek, Wawrzyniak; Maczynski, Krychowiak; Blaszczykowski, Starzynski, Grosicki; Lewandowski
Northern Ireland starting lineup (5-3-2 formation): McGovern; McNair, Cathcart, McAuley, Evans, Ferguson; Norwood, Baird, Davis; Lafferty, Ward
