Robert Lewandowski still 'vital' to Poland - coach Adam Nawalka

Posted Friday, June 17, 2016 by ESPN

Poland coach Adam Nawalka defended Robert Lewandowski's performance in Thursday's 0-0 draw against Germany and said he took satisfaction from seeing his side stifle world champions at Euro 2016.

Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski is considered among the finest in the world but has not scored in Poland's two games.

Nawalka said he was not concerned that Lewandowski would be a liability entering the final group-stage game against Ukraine.

"Lewandowski's performance is always vital to our game plan. He hasn't scored, but he's doing a lot of work," Nawalka said.

"He is always thinking about the team and has played a huge role dragging defenders out of place and creating room for teammates. He is in optimum form."

Lewankdowski, who showed his frustration by screaming at Arkadiusz Milik over a sloppy pass, said he's also eager to end his mini-drought.

"It would be nice to score a goal," Lewandowski said. "Sometimes I'm alone up front, but it doesn't matter about statistics, it matters about the team."

Despite the drab scoreline, Poland had the better of scoring chances, with Arkadiusz Milik misfiring on two fine opportunities.

Nawalka may have been content with the result, but he said his players were still eager to prove themselves after settling for a point that all but secures their place in the knockout stage.

"We were controlling things, even at the end," said Nawalka. "There were times when Germany took the initiative but we gave it to them consciously, to allow us space to hit them on the counter-attack.

"I'm very happy with the team, in particular their discipline and tactical awareness. It all went exactly to plan. The players put a lot of heart into it.

"The only thing I'm not completely happy about is our failure to score but 0-0 was a fair scoreline.

"I'm happy the players aren't fully satisfied. It means they ask a lot of themselves and there's more to come."