Polish media slams Lewandowski for national team withdrawal
Poland's Robert Lewandowski appears disappointed after the UEFA Euro 2024 Group D soccer match between Poland and Austria at the Olympiastadion. Star striker Robert Lewandowski has said he will no longer play in the Polish national team as long as Michal Probierz is the coach. Soeren Stache/dpa
Polish media has criticized star striker Robert Lewandowski for his decision longer play for Poland as long as Michal Probierz is the coach.
Lewandowski, 36, made the announcement in a post in Polish on the X platform on Sunday after Probiertz said that would no longer be team captain and Piotr Zielinski would take over this role.
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The Gazeta Wyborcza daily said on Tuesday that the star striker has "inflicted a huge blow to his image."
"Maybe he doesn't care?," the paper said.
"Lewandowski is a great footballer, perhaps the greatest in the history of Polish football. It's an open secret that Lewandowski has long considered Probierz to be a weak coach who is damaging the national team. But even the most outstanding footballer doesn't have the right to decide who coaches the team.
"Lewandowski has worked in clubs with top coaches such as Jürgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Hansi Flick. But such coaches are unattainable for the Polish Football Association."
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Gazeta Wyborcza said that Lewandowski has "obligations to the team and the fans" and that "there's a lot of ambiguity in this whole controversy."
The Rzeczpospolita newspaper called Lewandowski's behaviour "scandalous" and said that the player "seems to have lost touch with reality."
"His statement can be understood as follows: Either I'm captain, then I play, or I'm not - and I don't play.
"The captain's armband is an additional honour that you have to earn. Lewandowski has earned this honor in dozens of games," it wrote.
According to the paper, Probierz called Lewandowski to tell him he would lose his position as team captain. The two later met over coffee and Probierz explained his reasons.
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