WARSAW: Robert Lewandowski will no longer play for Poland while Michał Probierz remains head coach, the Barcelona striker said.
The 36-year-old Lewandowski, who has played a record 158 games for his country and is the leading scorer with 85 goals, cited tiredness from a La Liga title-winning season with Barcelona for pulling out of last Friday’s 2-0 friendly win over Moldova and Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Finland.
Probierz subsequently named Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zieliński as the new captain.
The Polish football association said: “Piotr Zieliński has been named the new captain of the national team by head coach Michał Probierz. The coach personally informed Robert Lewandowski, the entire team and the coaching staff of his decision.”
Lewandowski replied with a post on X: “Taking into account the circumstances and the loss of trust in the head coach of the Polish national team, I have decided to step down from playing for the national team for as long as he remains in charge. I hope I will still have the chance to play again for the best fans in the world.”
Lewandowski suffered an injury to his left thigh on April 19 in a La Liga match against Celta Vigo and was sidelined for two weeks. He missed four games, including a thrilling 3-3 Champions League semifinal first leg against Inter in Barcelona.
He recovered in time for the second leg and was used as substitute in a 4-3 defeat that sent Inter to the final.
Poland leads World Cup Group G qualifying with two wins from two games.
Robert Lewandowski says he’ll no longer play for Poland while Michal Probierz is coach
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Robert Lewandowski says he’ll no longer play for Poland while Michal Probierz is coach
- The 36-year-old Poland captain has played a record 158 games for his country and is the leading scorer with 85 goals
Hakimi declared fit for hosts Morocco’s AFCON bid
RABAT: Morocco captain and star player Achraf Hakimi is fit and ready for the host nation’s Africa Cup of Nations bid but may not start in the tournament’s opening game, coach Walid Regragui said on Saturday.
“Tomorrow will be my decision but he has more than done his job. His injury was not an easy one,” Regragui told reporters in Rabat where Morocco play minnows Comoros in the first match on Sunday.
“I still have another night to sleep and decide whether he starts or whether we protect him and see how it goes for the remaining games.
“He is able to start, but he might not start.”
Paris Saint-Germain right-back Hakimi, the African player of the year, has not played since coming off with a left ankle injury in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich on November 4.
The 27-year-old left the field in tears that night, clearly fearing for his chances of featuring at the Cup of Nations. The injury was later diagnosed as a severe sprain.
“I feel good. I am following the program given to me by the medical staff and the coach,” Hakimi, who also came sixth in this year’s Ballon d’Or ranking, said Saturday.
Regragui added: “He has made sacrifices over the last four or five weeks that nobody else could have made, and has set an example to the other players and the staff.
“Today we can see that the protocol we put in place after his injury has been more than positive but now we have the whole competition to manage.”
Morocco will also face Mali and Zambia in Group A as they bid to win a first Cup of Nations since 1976.
The tournament runs into the New Year and will finish with the final in Rabat on January 18.
