Football
ESPN staff 8y

Robert Lewandowski still crucial for Poland without scoring - Nawalka

Poland coach Adam Nawalka said that Robert Lewandowski is helping the team in a number of ways even though he's not scoring as they advanced to the knockout stage at Euro 2016.

Lewandowski failed to score in any of Poland's three Group C games in France, including Tuesday's 1-0 win over Ukraine, but Poland still advanced as runners-up with seven points.

"That Lewandowski hasn't scored yet is not a problem whatsoever," Nawalka said after the game. "He is doing a lot of hard work and has had a big influence on our wins and how we have played.

"He's incredibly important for us. He's a player who can help us. He plays in a supportive way throughout. It's just a matter of time for him, he's creating a lot of chances, and I think he'll score in the next match."

Nawalka also praised the work of goal scorer Jakub Blaszczykowski.

"Blaszczykowski is an important player for us, he's very experienced and has a great influence on how we play -- he proved that tonight," the coach said.

"He increased the quality of our play and I'll count on him in the coming matches. He will start against Switzerland."

Poland are the first team to learn their knockout stage opponents and will enter the round-of-16 test against Switzerland without conceding a goal against Northern Ireland, Germany and Ukraine.

"We're very happy with another three points, making it seven in total," Nawalka said, "We haven't conceded a goal and we're still going forward. We'll approach the match against Switzerland positively.

"We started well and created a couple of chances, but later on we lost control of the midfield and weren't winning the second balls. Ukraine created some chances, but that's not unexpected given their quality.

"We have prepared some information on Switzerland. My staff are doing a very good job, that's why we know a lot about them. We will start our analysis of them tomorrow.

"Switzerland play at a high level and they're one of the more interesting teams at this tournament. We have faith and optimism that we'll go further."

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