March 25 : Poland go into their World Cup playoff semi-final against Albania with a strong recent record in such games, but coach Jan Urban said on Wednesday that past successes mean little as they prepare to face a familiar opponent.
Poland reached the last World Cup through the playoff route, also qualifying for Euro 2024 that way, with many of the current squad having come through those pressure games.
“Yes, they have experience, of course they do,” Urban told reporters ahead of Thursday’s game in Warsaw.
“If that’s the card they want to play, I think that when they go out on the pitch, that experience is in them.
“But they won’t be thinking about having played such matches before, they’ll be thinking about what we’ve planned, how we want to play against this team.
“You’re in the match, analysing what’s happening on the pitch. There’s responsibility, stress, fatigue, there’s no time for such things. You don’t think about things like that.”
Poland have the upper hand in the head-to-head record with Albania, winning 10 times and losing twice. Their most recent meeting in 2023, however, ended in defeat for Poland as Albania topped the Euro qualifying group.
Urban has only been in charge since last July, after Michal Probierz resigned following the fall-out from his decision to strip Poland’s record scorer Robert Lewandowski of the captaincy.
Albania, meanwhile, have been led by Sylvinho since 2023, and his opening game was a 1-0 loss to Poland in Warsaw.
“In each of the recent matches we’ve played against them, they’ve caused us more problems,” Urban said.
“That’s also because they have a very stable squad and have been working with the same coach for three years.
“I expect quite an open game. Even though Albania are a team with a defensive emphasis, they also know that there has to be a result here. They’re a team capable of surprising, I just hope it won’t be tomorrow.”
The winner of Thursday’s game will face either Ukraine or Sweden in Tuesday’s final.
