Poland head coach Jan Urban praised his side’s resilience after they fought back twice to draw 2-2 with Nigeria in Warsaw, but admitted the Super Eagles were ruthless in converting their limited opportunities — a quality that frustrated him throughout the evening, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Nigeria struck first in the 25th minute through Terem Moffi, before Paul Onuachu converted a penalty in the 77th minute to restore the Eagles’ lead after Kacper Potulski had levelled before half-time. Przemyslaw Wiśniewski’s powerful strike in the 95th minute ultimately saved Poland’s blush, but Urban was candid about what Nigeria had done well.
“The scenario from the previous matches repeated itself — we played, the opponent scored. But I wasn’t concerned because we played well. And we played well after the goal. It was a good match against a good team,” Urban said.
His frustration, however, centred on Nigeria’s clinical edge.
“The worst thing is that the opponent doesn’t create countless chances and takes only two or three. They are very cruel to us,” he said, before contextualising the result within the friendly setting.
“But these are friendly matches; they won’t judge us for them.”
Urban acknowledged that Nigeria’s seven substitutions at half-time disrupted the rhythm of the game and forced Poland to adapt tactically.
He revealed that his side had prepared to shift to a four-man defence at the interval but held off initially before eventually making the change as they chased the game.
“We were partly playing for the result. But I also saw that we were playing well. We were creating chances, and we were close to scoring. Bartek Slisz’s positioning and disposition helped us secure the backline. He played an excellent game. Later, we wanted to chase the result, so we changed to a four-man defence,” he explained.
The Poland coach was also keen to offer a perspective on the performance, noting that his players had arrived at the camp off the back of a full domestic season and should not be judged too harshly.
“Today was a really good match. I didn’t feel helpless, looking at the players who had the entire season in their stride during this training camp. I would have behaved the same way after the entire season. I know this from experience,” Urban said.
With the Nations League on the horizon, Urban made clear that the time for experimentation is coming to an end.
“No one will have time for experiments. We will take the Nations League seriously; I can’t imagine it any other way,” he said.
Nigeria travel to Leiria next for their final friendly of the window against Portugal on June 10.
Read the full article here
