"Even stronger than Argentina" - Lewandowski makes bold claim about France as Poland prepare for FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash
Poland's captain Robert Lewandowski has said that he believes France are stronger than Argentina, ahead of their 2022 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash with the reigning champions.
The Polish side put on an unimpressive performance against Argentina during their 2-0 loss in the final game of Group C. Lewandowski and co., however, managed to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament due to a better goal difference than Mexico.
Their performance against La Albiceleste was far from impressive, but the Polish captain is confident that his side will put up a better performance against Les Bleus. France and Argentina are amongst the favorites for the trophy.
The Barcelona striker told Polish television (via Get World Cup Football News):
“It wasn’t a great game for us but we’ll soon forget about it – qualification is the most important thing. We will play for a place in the quarter-finals against France who are even stronger than Argentina. We have to learn from today’s defeat, we will definitely play better on Sunday. The game with Argentina was not a match for a goal scorer, defence was more important."
The moment Lewandowski found out Poland we're going through to the Round of 16 for the first time since 1986 🇵🇱
Look at what it means ❤️ https://t.co/Cisxhe8xaT
Robert Lewandowski added that the Polish team was more focused on qualification during the clash against Lionel Messi's men.
"It was all about qualification, and we made it. It doesn’t matter if it’s by goal difference, cards or whatever. The goal we conceded quickly in the second half affected us a lot, our self-confidence was weakened. We have a lot of room for improvement before the meeting with the French."
La Albiceleste finished as the winners of Group C. They will take on Group B runners-up Australia, who very few people predicted would make it out of the group stages.
Lionel Messi refused to reveal the exchange with Robert Lewandowski during their FIFA World Cup clash
Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi were involved in an awkward exchange during Poland vs. Argentina. The Barcelona forward had to resort to a foul to stop Messi during the final minutes of the World Cup group-stage encounter.
When the Polish captain approached for a handshake, Messi wasn't too keen. Speaking about the incident after the game, Messi said (via India Today):
“Nothing happened. I have been taught that everything that happens on the pitch remains on the pitch, like in the dressing room. The things that we say to each other in private will never come out of me.”
Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski shared a moment after the final whistle 🇦🇷🇵🇱 https://t.co/zR8joPJtlJ