Czeslaw Michniewicz reacts to Robert Lewandowski's missed penalty against Mexico
Polish national team head coach Czeslaw Michniewicz confirmed Robert Lewandowski will continue to be the designated player to take penalties, despite failing to score one against Mexico.
In the 58th minute of the game, a foul by Hector Moreno on Lewandowski inside the box gifted Poland their best chance at goal. The Barcelona star stepped up, attempting to find the lower right corner, but Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa denied him with a great diving save.
“He will always take penalties. It doesn't matter if he doesn't score one or two penalties, everything is in the hands of any player in the world who is doing it,” said the Polish coach after the match.
“If you look at Messi or Ronaldo you can see how many penalties they have missed in the past. It doesn't happen very often to Robert, but unfortunately it happened to him during this game.”
The coach then quickly turned the attention on Poland’s upcoming match against Saudi Arabia, labeling the result as 'worse' for the team as they fight to qualify for the Round of 16.
“Saudi Arabia played incredibly, it looked like one of the games where Argentina could win 4-0 and it looked like it could happen during the first half, but everything changed afterwards. This is soccer and soccer is teaching us about humility, but it's worse for everyone in the group, including us and Mexico, that Argentina made such a big mistake in their first game that now they have fewer chances and can play much better,” said Michniewicz.
“Definitely [Argentina 's defeat] is not good news for everyone. But it doesn't concern us and it doesn't bother me. After all, there will be no personal best for Messi. We didn't win, there was a draw. There are still two games left, so we will have to wait and see.”
Poland are currently tied with Mexico for second place in the Group C standings with one point each.
The Polish side faces Saudi Arabia on Saturday, November 26 at Education City Stadium, before concluding the group stage against Argentina on November 30.