Poland's Robert Lewandowski, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring against Belgium in a Uefa Nations League match in June, 2022. AP
Poland's Robert Lewandowski, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring against Belgium in a Uefa Nations League match in June, 2022. AP
Poland's Robert Lewandowski, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring against Belgium in a Uefa Nations League match in June, 2022. AP
Poland's Robert Lewandowski, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring against Belgium in a Uefa Nations League match in June, 2022. AP

World Cup 2022 Group C: Poland pin hopes on Lewandowski


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Poland will like their chances of advancing out of the group phase, a feat not achieved since 1986, but they will need their talisman Robert Lewandowski to be firing on all cylinders.

It has been a mixed bag of results for Czeslaw Michniewicz’s side recently, with a 6-1 loss to Belgium in the Nations League demonstrating the team's vulnerability against high-class opposition.

However, Poland finished second in a competitive World Cup qualifying group, which included England and Hungary. They managed to hold England to a draw in Warsaw, demonstrating that they can compete with genuine tournament contenders.

Poland will also be accustomed to knockout football should they advance from the last 16, having shown up when it mattered against Sweden to win their playoff 2-0 to qualify for the World Cup.

All eyes will be on striker Lewandowski, who will need to lead from the front if Poland are going to have any chance of progressing in Qatar. The Barcelona striker, 34, is still operating at the highest level, notching an incredible 50 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions in his final year at Bayern Munich last season, and starting his time at Barca in similarly prolific fashion.

What will be of concern for Poland is their lack of clean sheets, which are vital in tournament football. If Poland can tighten up at the back, they leave themselves in a good position with the strength they have in forward areas.

It looks as if the key game for Poland will come against Mexico. A win against Saudi Arabia should be a formality, and while Argentina may prove a step too far, Mexico will equally fancy their chances of qualifying from the group.

The last three World Cups for Poland have represented disappointments with group stage exits on each occasion, but exposure to knockout football and possessing one of the the best strikers in the world puts them in good stead for the tournament.

Manager: Czeslaw Michniewicz

Star player: Robert Lewandowski

One to watch: Piotr Zielinski

World Cups appeared in: 1938, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 2002, 2006. 2018

Fixtures: Nov 22 - Mexico v Poland; Nov 26 - Poland v Saudi Arabia; Nov 30 - Poland v Argentina

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Rating: 4/5

Wicked: For Good

Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater

Rating: 4/5

The Two Popes

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce 

Four out of five stars

New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

The biog

Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha

Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Holiday destination: Sri Lanka

First car: VW Golf

Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters

Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars

European arms

Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons.  Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.

Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

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Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Updated: September 28, 2022, 8:58 AM