Football: Poland beats South Korea 3-2
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
28.03.2018 07:38
Poland defeated South Korea 3-2 in a friendly held in Chorzów, southern Poland, on Monday, as both squads prepare for the 2018 football World Cup in Russia.
Piotr Zieliński's winning goal. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel.
Polish captain Robert Lewandowski scored a goal in the 32nd minute and winger Kamil Grosicki netted another in the 45th, closing the first half of the game with a 2-0 lead for the Poles.
After 40 minutes of play in the second half, midfielder Lee Chang-min scored the first goal for South Korea and striker Hwang Hee-chan netted an equaliser just two minutes later.
Midfielder Piotr Zieliński netted the winning goal for Poland during added time at the revamped Silesian Stadium, affectionately nicknamed the Witches' Cauldron, where the national squad last played in 2009.
The match on Monday was the Polish team's first victory in a series of friendlies lined up ahead of the 2018 World Cup. In November, Poland drew 0-0 with Uruguay and lost 0-1 against Mexico. The Poles lost to Nigeria 0-1 last Friday.
In December, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) announced that the squad would play four friendlies ahead of the 2018 World Cup tournament in Russia.
After facing off against Chile in Poznań on June 8, Poland will play a friendly with Lithuania at the National Stadium in Warsaw on June 12.
A day later the Polish squad will depart for Russia.
Nawałka is scheduled to name the final 23-man lineup for the World Cup on June 5.
The 2018 World Cup kicks off on June 14 and runs until July 15. Poland is to take on Senegal, Colombia and Japan in the group stage of the tournament. (vb/pk)
Source: PAP