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Poland international Robert Lewandowski has showered great praise on Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane ahead of the match between the two nations. The two teams will be coming into the match with a new manager, who had taken charge for one game prior to this encounter. Poland recently appointed Adam Nawalka, while Republic of Ireland brought in Martin O’Neill (with Roy Keane as his assistant) to replace Giovanni Trapattoni. They managed to win their first match incharge 3-0 against Latvia.

Poland, meanwhile, did not get the ideal result in Nawalka’s first match as manager, as they lost 2-0 to Slovakia in a friendly match. This match is also at home for Nawalka’s men and they will be hoping for a much better result this time around. Keane has been one of the first-team regulars for Ireland over the last 15 years. The 33-year-old is currently playing with LA Galaxy in the MLS. He has stated that he will continue playing for the national team despite his age and current location. Keane has to travel halfway across the world in order to take part in the matches.

Lewandowski has stated that the figures achieved by Keane over the last 15 years are truly remarkable and he would one day like to match those figures.

“I believe that the statistics are really impressive. Sixty two goals scored for the Irish squad is really an impressive figure. I know that Keane has played for the Irish squad for so many years and we know they are very strong. But we don’t want to concentrate on an individual player. We know they have very good individuals in the team, but we have to focus on how we are going to play. If the squad plays well, each individual player has an easier job,” said Lewandowski.

Poland still remain with a shout to qualify for the World Cup 2014 with only a few matches remaining in the qualification campaign. All the teams have played eight matches and Poland have taken 13 points from these matches. They are only two points behind the likes of Montenegro and Ukraine, while just three points behind the table leader England. Hence, Poland manager Waldemar Fornalik is feeling confident about his team’s chances of making it into the major competition. He was speaking ahead of the qualifying match against San Marino, which is expected to be a comfortable victory for the away team.

Poland will be making the trip to San Marino, who are bottom of the group. In fact, they have failed to score even one goal from the seven matches so far. Fornalik believes that victories from the match against Ukraine and England in the next round of World Cup qualifying matches that will take place in October will be enough to see his team through to Brazil. One of the most important results came in the form of the 1-1 draw with Montenegro a few days ago. Poland would have been almost out of the running had the lost this match, but they managed a draw.

“We all know what is at stake during the match with Montenegro. Only victory will extend our hopes of qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil. We are depending on this victory and I am convinced that we can achieve it,” said Fornalik. “We need seven points from the last three games if we want to get to Brazil or at least make it to the play-offs. We can’t afford to lose in Warsaw. We are top of a very tough group and we have the same chance of a World Cup place as heavyweights England and big footballing nations Ukraine and Poland,” Brnović said.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has revealed that he tried to bring in the Borussia Dortmund striker, Robert Lewandowski, when he was at Blackburn Rovers. The Polish international is regarded as one of the best strikers in Europe now. He has been linked with every major club like Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Real Madrid. Due to the fact that he has just over 12 months left on his contract, he is widely expected to be sold in the summer rather than allowing him on a free transfer. He is expected to cost around £ 25 million, but that has not deterred the interested parties.

The striker recently managed to score four goals in the Champions league semi-final against Real Madrid. It went a long way into helping the team progress into the first Champions League final after a long time. Allardyce was the manager of Blackburn for two years from 2008 to 2010. He revealed that the club almost came close to signing Lewandowski only for the weather to play havoc in the signing. The 24-year-old was playing for Polish club Znicz Pruszkow at that time. However, the volcanic eruption in Iceland prevented Lewandowski from arriving in England to complete the transfer. He then signed for Lech Poznan before moving to Dortmund.

“Unfortunately he got delayed. We didn’t have a lot of money and he wanted to come. He was ready but after that he went to [Lech Posnan and then] Germany, which was a great shame for us and Blackburn. Obviously from his point of view his career has flourished from there, but that was one of those things you can’t stop. Tomasz Kuszczak, the Polish keeper who ended up at Manchester United. Our secretary let him go without signing his contract and the next day he’d signed for West Brom,” said Allardyce.

Zbigniew Boniek , who is Chairman of the Polish football Association, has said that manager Waldemar Fornalik will remain in the job for now. His comments have created lot of speculation about the manager, who has overseen a disappointing run of results in recent months. Poland recently lost 3-1 against Ukraine in a crucial World Cup qualifying match, which has left the team four points behind second placed England. Poland were already in a tough group trophy for the World Cup. However, results like these against the likes of Ukraine have almost left them with no hope of qualifying for the World Cup.

After the Ukraine match, Boniek has said that he does not want to comment about the future of the manager. Instead, Fornalik is remaining in the job for the moment. Fornalik has been in charge of the national team since 2012 after the team suffered an embarrassing exit in the European championships. Since taking over, he has not done a great job with the national team. However, they are widely expected to get back to winning ways when they take on San Marino in the home match in four days time. San Marino are widely regarded as one of the poorest teams in the qualifying campaign.

“For the moment, Fornalik is carrying on. I said: Waldek, sometimes as chairman I have to take decisions. I would like to be convinced that the team is going in the right direction. That with half a year, four to five months, we are drawing lessons from these failures. That’s what everyone is waiting for, the fans and us. We know that we’re ill, but it’s hard to find a remedy,” said Boniek in a recent interview. The team will be having a crucial World Cup qualifying match against Moldova in June.

Poland came into the midweek friendly match against the Republic of Ireland with a great amount of confidence after having won the last two matches. However, they suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Trapattoni’s men. After the match, the Poland manager Waldemar Fornalik said that the match should not have ended in a defeat for his team because he thought that his players played extremely well. Poland made a number of chances in the first 35 min of the match. However, they were unable to convert the chances into goals and they were later made to pay for their mistakes.

Ciaran Clark scored for the Republic of Ireland in the 35th minute. From then on in, Ireland managed to soak up the pressure from Poland and hit them on the counter. Yet, there was still belief within the Polish team that they could come back in the second half. The second half goals from the Norwich player Hoolahan all but ended any hopes of a comeback for Poland. Fornalik has said that the only difference between the two teams was the fact that Ireland were more efficient in converting their chances, while Poland were not. The manager also praised the huge number of Polish fans who had turned out to support the team despite this being an away fixture.

“It was not a game we should have lost, especially taking into account the first half, but unfortunately the Irish team were more effective. The 2nd half was not as good as the first half, the Irish team were becoming more threatening and we were getting worse and worse. Our purpose was to increase our offensive power in the second half however it didn’t go according to plan, and the game ended the way it did,” said the Polish manager.

The Poland national team manager Waldemar Fornalik is of the opinion that the striker Arkadiusz Milik should stay in the Polish league at least for a little more while before he gets regular playing time and experience under his belt. He has said that even though the Polish league is weaker than the other leagues across Europe, the fact that the 18-year-old will be getting regular first-team football is more important. Milik has been regarded as the next big thing to come from Poland. He has been linked with various clubs across Europe, but the national team manager thinks that it is a little too early to move to a major European club.

On the other hand, the manager has said that he feels that the defender Arthur Jędrzejczyk is at the right stage in his career to move to a new club. He has been subjected interest from various European clubs. At 25 years of age, Jędrzejczyk has the necessary physical attributes and quality to be able to compete for a place at a major European club according to Fornalik. However, he thinks that the problem for him will come when he does not play regularly and still wants to get into the national team.

“It’s always about the discussion, and it is difficult to give a definite answer. About Milik I have some concerns, because the fierce competition will not be easy for him to go immediately to the composition and play. On the other hand, is more shaped player. His current physical abilities allow him to fight for a decent part of the European club. The problem arises when the players where we want to place in the national team, go and play in the clubs,” said Fornalik. Poland will be playing in a friendly match against Romania next month.