Poland take on the visitors Ukraine in a Friendly International match. The match will be played on Thursday, June 6th at PGE Narodowy (Warsaw).
Poland has become a regular presence in tournaments and often advances to the knockout stages. This was the case at the World Cup, but after the trip to Qatar, they parted ways with Czesław Michniewicz. He was replaced by Portuguese coach Fernando Santos, who also failed and was dismissed after a few months. It's not as though Przemysław Probierz dramatically changed or improved the team's performance. Lewandowski and company did not win their autumn home matches against Moldova and an unmotivated Czech Republic, both ending in 1-1 draws, though they did finish with a confident 2-0 win over Latvia in a friendly. In the playoffs, after a 5-1 win against Estonia, they faced Wales in the decisive match, which ended goalless in both regular and extra time. It was only thanks to Szczęsny's experience and calmness (he admitted to having a smoke during the last break) that he saved the final penalty, securing their spot in the Euros.
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Ukraine has proven they deserve their spot in the tournament. The Yellow-Blues made a breakthrough at the last Euros, reaching the quarter-finals. However, Andriy Shevchenko inexplicably handed over the coaching reins to Oleksandr Petrakov, who struggled to achieve similar success. They were denied a World Cup spot by Wales in the final playoff round (due to a Yarmolenko own goal and Hennessey's saves), and they lost their Nations League group to Scotland. Under Serhiy Rebrov in last year's qualifiers, they fell just short: despite drawing with England and Italy, they lost second place to Squadra Azzurra on tiebreakers. This led to a two-legged playoff in March, where Ukraine conceded first in both matches but managed to secure comeback victories, 2-1 against Bosnia in Zenica and 2-1 against Iceland in Wroclaw. Notably, they have assembled their strongest possible squad, with veterans like Yarmolenko and Stepanenko returning, and even have a reserve list beyond the expanded main squad. Yes, Kryvtsov has issues, but Messi’s clubmate has long been out of the picture. They managed a well-organized defensive display against Germany in Nuremberg, ending 0-0. Now, they will rehearse their game plan for victory against a strong (but not elite) opponent.
The neighbors have faced each other eight times. At one point, Ukraine was leading, but Poland caught up with victories at Euro 2016 and in a friendly four years later, making the tally even at three wins each. The odds slightly favor the home team. However, the visitors have performed better in this cycle – our bet is on them with a 0 handicap.
Prediction for the match: Ukraine to win with 0.0 handicap.
