Star striker Robert Lewandowski says he'll no longer play for Poland while Michal Probierz is coach
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Robert Lewandowski will no longer play for Poland while Michał Probierz remains head coach, the Barcelona striker said.
The 36-year-old Poland captain, who has played a record 158 games for his country and is the leading scorer with 85 goals, cited tiredness from a La Liga title-winning season with Barcelona for pulling out of last Friday's 2-0 friendly win over Moldova and Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Finland.
Probierz subsequently named Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zieliński as the new captain.
The Polish soccer association said: 'Piotr Zieliński has been named the new captain of the national team by head coach Michał Probierz. The coach personally informed Robert Lewandowski, the entire team and the coaching staff of his decision.'
Lewandowski replied with a post on X: 'Taking into account the circumstances and the loss of trust in the head coach of the Polish national team, I have decided to step down from playing for the national team for as long as he remains in charge. I hope I will still have the chance to play again for the best fans in the world.'
Lewandowski suffered an injury to his left thigh on April 19 in a La Liga match against Celta Vigo and was sidelined for two weeks. He missed four games, including a thrilling 3-3 Champions League semifinal first leg against Inter in Barcelona.
He recovered in time for the second leg and was used as substitute in a 4-3 defeat that sent Inter to the final.
Poland leads World Cup Group G qualifying with two wins from two games.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
England midfielder Angel Gomes reaches agreement in principle to join Marseille on free transfer
England midfielder Angel Gomes has reached an agreement in principle to join Marseille on a free transfer, the French club have announced. All four of the 24-year-old's international appearances came under interim head coach Lee Carsley in 2024, and he will now join Marseille after his contract at Ligue 1 rivals Lille expired this summer. The former Manchester United academy midfielder made 134 first-team appearances for Lille across four seasons, but an injury-hit 2024-25 campaign limited him to just 20 appearances and 10 league starts. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 🤝 L'Olympique de Marseille annonce avoir trouvé un accord de principe avec Angel Gomes pour la venue au club du milieu international anglais 🏴 — Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) June 11, 2025 Gomes joined Lille in 2020 after making 10 senior appearances at United, where he spent 14 years, and featured in their run to the Champions League last-16 stage this season. He spent the 2020-21 campaign on loan at Portuguese top-flight club Boavista, scoring six goals in 31 appearances, before returning to Lille the following season. Advertisement Gomes made his United senior debut under Jose Mourinho in May 2017 but found first-team opportunities hard to come by and decided not to renew his contract in the summer of 2020, ahead of his move to France. Marseille, who finished second in Ligue 1, confirmed their qualification for next season's Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Le Havre on May 16. ()
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Crystal Palace: Group including Jimmy Butler expected to make offer for stake in Premier League club
A consortium of sport and entertainment executives, which includes the NBA star Jimmy Butler, is expected to make an offer in excess of $200million to purchase Eagle Football's 43 per cent stake in Premier League soccer club Crystal Palace, sources briefed on the proposed deal have told The Athletic. Advertisement The group is led by former Morgan Stanley sports executive Bejan Esmaili and former Roc Nation attorney Wajid Mir, with the pair having previously agreed in January a period of exclusivity with John Textor — the largest shareholder in Eagle Football and one of Palace's four primary owners — which they allowed to lapse. The Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd had formed part of that consortium but instead chose to join the ownership group of fellow Premier League side Everton in April. Now Butler, a six-time NBA all-star who has been with the Golden State Warriors since February, has become part of the wider group. Eagle and Butler, via his representatives, have been approached for comment. Previously backed by two Saudi Arabian businessmen, Haider and Mansoor Syed, the original group opted to allow its 30-day period of exclusivity to end and instead sought alternative funding. The new consortium, sources added, is backed by an American group which has experience investing in soccer clubs. Should the group's expected offer be accepted, it would value Palace — which won the English FA Cup, the world's oldest soccer cup competition, for the first time in May — as a whole in excess of $465million (£343m). Other recent investments in Premier League clubs include Sir Jim Racliffe's purchase of a 28.9 per cent stake in Manchester United for $1.6bn in December 2023, the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover of Chelsea for $3.02bn in May 2022 and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed takeover of Newcastle United for £305m in October 2021. Sources also added that Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets, has also made an offer for Eagle's shares but has yet to meet Textor's valuation. The Athletic has approached Johnson for comment, via the Jets. Sportsbank, a sports investment group advised by the former Everton director and experienced football financier Keith Harris, was granted exclusivity to invest in Eagle in January, but that exclusivity also lapsed and it no longer has an active offer, although remains interested in investing should Eagle complete its initial public offering (IPO). Advertisement The expected offer from the new U.S. consortium comes amid concerns over Palace's eligibility to compete in next season's Europa League despite qualifying as FA Cup winners, due to Eagle's ownership of French side Lyon, where it holds a majority stake, putting them potentially at odds with UEFA's rules around multi-club ownership. Textor had hoped fellow Palace co-owners Josh Harris, who owns the NFL's Washington Commanders, and David Blitzer, the two American businessmen who together make up the other general partners alongside chairman Steve Parish, would purchase Eagle's shares but no deal has been agreed. They have the right of first offer to buy Eagle's stake in the south London soccer club and have been approached by Textor, but according to sources familiar with the situation, their proposal fell short of being accepted. Textor believes it would be the easiest way to remove doubt over Palace's Europa League participation. Textor, the fourth general partner at Palace as a representative of Eagle, is the chairman of the group but after more than a year shifting between being open to selling Eagle's stake and seeking to buy a majority, appears to have settled on selling, especially with Palace's place in Europe in question. UEFA's rules restrict teams from multi-club groups playing in the same competition. While there may still be ways around this, the deadline set by European football's governing body to address any multi-club ownership issues passed on March 1 — the day Palace beat Millwall in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Lyon qualified for the same competition through their league standing and due to finishing higher than Palace in their respective league, they have precedence to be admitted to the competition. All four of Palace's general partners met with UEFA in Nyon, Switzerland, last week to present their case that Textor does not have control or influence at Palace. There is some confidence that they would be able to convey a lack of decisive influence but the decision on whether to admit Palace to Europe remains in the balance before it is communicated to the club, which is expected later this month. The U.S. consortium is expected to now come back to the table. Should it make the offer and it be accepted by Eagle, as their previous offer was in December, then the deal will be subject to Premier League approval. It remains to be seen whether UEFA would be satisfied by a binding agreement for Eagle to sell its stake, or whether any deal can reach that stage before the committee makes its decision. Should the consortium be successful in buying out Eagle, it may subsequently look to carry out a full takeover of Palace in due course in order to have full decision-making power. In May last year, Textor told The Athletic that he was actively looking to sell Eagle's stake in Palace and he had hired investment banking firm Raine to find a suitable investor to purchase the group's share in the club. 'We've reached the point where we have a significant investment in a club we hold in the minority (in Palace),' he said. 'We're having extreme success in Brazil and early on in France, (and) to not have that same level of integration with our partner in the UK… it just becomes more and more clear that that level of collaboration we want and need works.' Advertisement Eagle Football 'is simply not a perfect fit for Crystal Palace,' he added. Textor originally purchased 40 per cent of Palace in 2021 for £87.5m (now $114m), helping to fund a successful transfer window and complete the redevelopment of the academy, before increasing that stake by around five per cent with an additional £30m. Further investment has come from capital calls. There have been failed attempts by Textor to purchase a controlling stake in the club, which is also owned by fellow general partners Parish, Harris and Blitzer, who each have 25 per cent of the voting rights. Over the past four years, Textor has struggled to make headway into purchasing a controlling stake and disagreed with Parish over the direction of the club, in particular with his multi-club model which includes controlling stakes in Lyon, Brazilian top-flight club Botafogo and Belgian club RWD Molenbeek, which he recently renamed Daring Brussels. Now, he appears to have accepted it is time to sell up at Palace. Additional reporting: Anthony Slater (Top photo of Crystal Palace players celebrating their FA Cup win in May:)
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Ajax leading race to sign Liverpool goalkeeper Viteslav Jaros on loan
Ajax are leading the race to sign Liverpool goalkeeper Viteslav Jaros on loan. The Premier League champions are allowing the 23-year-old to leave this summer after he made just two appearances last season. A number of clubs across Europe have expressed a strong interest in taking Jaros for the 2025-26 campaign and talks are ongoing as all options are considered. Advertisement Ajax, who are now managed by former Liverpool assistant John Heitinga, hope to bring in the Czech Republic international as they continue to rebuild following a late collapse in the race for the Eredivisie title. Heitinga knows Jaros well after spending a season at Anfield during the title-winning campaign. Jaros made one Premier League appearance when he replaced the injured Alisson in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in October. He was keen to play regular football last season but was kept around as the third-choice goalkeeper to provide cover. Liverpool have revamped the goalkeeping department this summer by selling Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford. Giorgi Mamardashvili will return from a loan spell at Valencia to start pre-season with the first team, and fellow new signing Armin Pecsi, 20, will compete with Harvey Davies, 21, to provide backup.
