The 2018 World Cup has thrown up some intriguing groups, though none are as even as Group H. With top seeds Poland drawn with Colombia, Japan and Senegal, there was little pre-tournament certainty regarding which of these four teams would make it to the last 16.
Senegal’s 2-1 win over Poland in the opening round of fixtures was, therefore, not that much of a surprise. While Adam Nawalka’s Polish side reached the last eight of the 2016 European Championship, here they fell to an extremely organised outfit featuring a number of talented individuals plying their trade at the highest level.
LINE-UPS
POL: Szczesny; Piszczek, Cionek, Pazdan, Rybus; Blaszczykowski, Krychowiak, Zielinski, Grosicki; Lewandowski, Milik
SEN: K N’Diaye; Wague, Sane, Koulibaly, Sabaly; Sarr, A N’Diaye, Gueye, Mane; Diouf, Niang
Poland were without central defensive inspiration Kamil Glik, so Thiago Cionek stepped in to partner Michal Pazdan at the heart of their back four. Nawalka, as expected, went with a 4-4-2 system that was led by one of the competition’s most exciting strike pairings – Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowksi and Napoli’s Arek Milik.
Senegal also went with a 4-4-2 system, with manager Aliou Cisse preferring M’Baye Niang and Mame Biram Diouf up front ahead of Monaco’s Keita Balde Diao. The only other surprise was that the highly rated Ismaila Sarr started on the right-hand side of the midfield four, with Liverpool star Sadio Mane on the opposite flank.
Subscribe To TFA To Unlock All Posts - Free 7 Day Trial
Try TFA Free For 7 Days
Gain access to all of TFA's premium contents.More than 12,000+ articles.
