Poland strikers Lewandowski and Swiderski injured in last Euros warmup
Mon, Jun 10, 2024
Soccer News (AP)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Strikers Robert Lewandowski and Karol Swiderski were in doubt for the European Championship after they were injured as Poland beat Turkey 2-1 in a warmup on Monday.
Lewandowski set up Swiderski for the opening goal in the 12th minute.
But Swiderski came off soon after. Lewandowski, Poland's all-time leading goal-scorer, lasted until the 32nd when he was hurt and substituted.
The pair have until Sunday to recover when Poland opens its Euros campaign against the Netherlands in Hamburg.
Turkey threatened the equalizer in the second half. Arda Guler and Orkun Koktocu were saved but goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was helpless when halftime substitute Baris Alper Yilmaz's shot from the edge of box deflected in.
After Turkey's Kerem Akturkoglu hit the crossbar from long range, Poland won in the 90th thanks to a beauty by Nicola Zalewski, who weaved past two defenders to the box and scored his maiden international goal.
Turkey faces Georgia in its opener on Tuesday week in Dortmund, while Poland will be sweating on its strikers.
There was nothing wrong with the Dutch attack. They have warmed up with consecutive 4-0 wins.
Iceland was put to the sword in Rotterdam, with Virgil van Dijk and Wout Weghorst scoring, just as they did against Canada last Thursday at De Kuip.
Xavi Simons' first goal for the Netherlands was teed up by Denzel Dumfries' header in the first half, then Nathan Ake's header set up Van Dijk.
Substitute Donyell Malen scored thanks to Memphis Depay, but Depay was denied moments later when VAR ruled out his goal because of an earlier handball.
However, VAR overturned another on-field decision to allow Weghorst's goal in added time.
The Czech Republic struggled to subdue North Macedonia 2-1, needing two second-half penalties in Hradec Kralove.
After Malta was ravaged 7-1 last Friday, the Czechs made nine changes to give their likely Euro lineup a run before facing Portugal in a week in Leipzig.
But nobody scored until the 60th when Patrik Shick converted a penalty for a foul on Tomas Soucek.
Just five minutes later, North Macedonia was level after Isnik Alimi headed in a rebound of Aleksandar Trajkovski's shot off the right post.
The Czechs needed all seven minutes of added time to find the winner, from a spot kick by Antonin Barak.
They suffered a setback over the weekend when midfielder Michal Sadilek, who captained the team against Malta, withdrew from the Euro 2024 squad after injuring his leg from falling off a bike.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
"