Poland-Denmark

I was in Warsaw and went to watch the 2018 World Cup qualifier between Poland and Denmark. Second match for both teams, where Denmark had opened with a 1-0 victory over Armenia and Poland had played 2-2 at home against Kasakhstan.

The atmosphere was great at the beautiful stadium in Warsaw (where they played the 2012 Euro final) and Polish fans were really behind their team. And in the first half they swept Denmark aside, leading 2-0 on goals by the fantastic Robert Lewandowski. Early in the second half Lewandowski made it 3-0 before Denmark scored two silly goals as Poland drew back, and let the Danes into the match, it became unnecessarily tense for the home side.

In the end Poland and Lewandowski prevailed to give them their first victory in the World Cup qualifiers, and us consolation hugs from Polish fans!

That said, if these are supposed to be the two top teams in the group, they have to do much better. Denmark lacks fantasy amid a lot of possession and Poland lack a defense that will not make you nervous. In the meantime Montenegro and Romania have become the teams to be beaten in this group (they both won 5-0 against Armenia and Kasakhstan respectively, teams Denmark and Poland struggled against).