Evening Standard
·13 giugno 2024
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·13 giugno 2024
Robert Lewandowski set to miss Group D opener as Dutch suffer double injury blow before tournament
Poland are set to kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against the Netherlands on Sunday without talisman and captain Robert Lewandowski.
The 35-year-old Barcelona striker suffered a thigh injury midway through the first half of Poland’s final warm-up friendly against Turkey on Monday.
Towering striker Adam Buksa is set to deputise with Karol Swiderski or Krzysztof Piatek the alternatives.
The Polish Football Association later issued a statement saying: “Lewandowski suffered a rupture of the biceps femoris muscle, which will exclude him from the first match of the tournament.”
Poland will also be without Matty Cash and Arkadiusz Milik, both of whom are missing the tournament through injury.
The Dutch squad is also beset by injuries. Midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners were ruled out of the Euros earlier this week, while Jurrien Timber has not been deemed fit enough for selection after tearing his ACL on his Premier League debut for Arsenal last summer.
PSV Eindhoven duo Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman are set to replace De Jong and Koopmeiners in midfield, while Stefan de Vrij will continue to partner skipper Virgil van Dijk in defence.
Dutch boss Ronald Koeman called up Chelsea left-back Ian Maatsen and in-demand Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee as injury replacements this week.
Predicted Poland XI: Szczesny; Bednarek, Dawidowicz, Kiwior; Frankowski, Moder, Slisz, Zalewski; Zielinski, Urbanski; Buksa
Predicted Netherlands XI: Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Reijnders, Schouten, Veerman; Simons, Depay, Gakpo
Time and date: 2pm BST on Sunday June 16, 2024
Venue: Volksparkstadion, Hamburg
TV channel: BBC One