Romania beat Poland 2-1 on Saturday 14 November at the National Arena in Bucharest, in matchday five of Group 4 in Nations League B. Alexandru Cicâldău scored in the 68th minute, Dennis Man made it 2-0 in the 72nd, and Marcel Reguła pulled one back in the 82nd. Kick-off was at 21:45 Romanian time. Poland captain Robert Lewandowski spoke afterwards. Golazo presents him as 38 and as a Chicago Fire forward, after Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

The Polish federation, PZPN, says the first half ended 0-0. In the 39th minute Lewandowski’s shot missed the goal. In the 59th minute Florinel Coman beat Bartłomiej Drągowski, and the goal was then disallowed after a VAR review for a foul. Cicâldău and Man scored after that. Poland looked for an equaliser until the end and did not find one. That timeline is the federation’s account, not a reading of the defeat.

Lewandowski described the game to Golazo, which cites meczyki.pl. “In the first half we basically had the match under control, although we lacked a clear chance. After the break we stopped winning the ball back.” He went on: “We played in a chaotic way, instead of moving the ball from one side to the other and gaining ground. We made mistakes from which the Romanians scored. After the first goal we conceded, everything looked far too easy for them. Today we lacked that last detail.”

The captain also blamed the shape of the team. “There were individual mistakes. We were not careful about how we were positioned. We were more focused on what was happening in attack, but we have to protect our back.” He said it is hard to explain the weak second halves: sometimes the calm in buildup is missing, and so is the ability to keep the ball on the ground. “We should get closer to their box, keep the ball there and combine. The Romanians pushed us back with long balls and with interceptions.”

He came off in the 70th minute, replaced by Adrian Benedyczak, about two minutes after Cicâldău’s goal. He said the change had been set before the match. “The substitution was planned. That was the plan, there are players who were given a chance. There are more and more young players and we have to bring them in gradually, so it is easier for them and so they can adapt to the national team.” On the new generation he added that the young players are knocking at the door, they have potential, but they have to be integrated step by step, and that the coach knows what is not working.

PZPN notes that Poland was back in Bucharest after ten years. In November 2016, in 2018 World Cup qualifying under Adam Nawałka, Poland had won 3-0 on the same ground, through Kamil Grosicki and two goals from Lewandowski. That is a different match from Saturday’s.

The photograph shows the PGE Narodowy stadium in Warsaw and the Średnicowy Bridge in 2019, not the National Arena and not Saturday’s match. The image is by Chicken4War and is published on Wikimedia Commons under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Source consulted: Lewandowski, reacție dură după eșecul de pe Arenă: „Totul a părut mult prea ușor pentru România”.