The world No 36-ranked men’s side, Poland, are the first of two European teams the 83rd-ranked All Whites will play this year.
While the All Whites will
be using the next few international windows to continue their preparation for next year’s Football World Cup, Poland – or any team from Europe – have yet to lock in their World Cup berth.
Both teams will be looking at the bigger picture in Chorzow, with the All Whites to play world No 31 Norway five days later on October 15, while Poland have a World Cup qualifier in this window against Lithuania.
Form
The All Whites have won two of the past five matches they have played this year. Poland have three wins and a draw in their past five results.
Friday’s game will be the third time the All Whites have played Poland. The first meeting was in 1999, a match Poland won on penalties. In 2002, Poland won 2-0.
Squads
The All Whites have made several changes from the September international window, with Owen Parker-Price and George Stanger included for the first time.
Dalton Wilkins and Eli Just have withdrawn from the original squad because of injury, with Wellington Phoenix player and Under-20 captain Lukas Kelly-Heald getting a call-up.
Squad: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Nik Tzanev, Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Francis de Vries, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Tim Payne, Tommy Smith, George Stanger, Finn Surman, Joe Bell, Andre de Jong, Matt Garbett, Callum McCowatt, Ben Old, Owen Parker-Price, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic, Ryan Thomas, Bill Tuiloma, Ben Waine, Chris Wood.
Poland have brought back experienced captain and striker Robert Lewandowski, as well as lured winger Kamil Grosicki out of retirement for the October international window.
Lewandowski is the third-highest goalscorer in the Uefa Champions League and was the runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in 2021.
Squad: Bartlomiej Drągowski, Kamil Grabara, Lukasz Skorupski, Kacper Tobiasz, Jan Bednarek, Matty Cash, Tomasz Kedziora, Jakub Kiwior, Arkadiusz Pyrka, Przemyslaw Wisniewski, Pawel Wszolek, Jan Ziolkowski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Kamil Grosicki, Jakub Kaminski, Bartosz Kapustka, Kacper Kozlowski, Jakub Piotrowski, Michal Skoras, Bartosz Slisz, Sebastian Szymanski, Piotr Zielinski, Robert Lewandowski, Krzysztof Piatek, Karol Swiderski.
What they are saying
All Whites coach Darren Bazeley on the schedule: “It’s unusual for us to be playing on a Thursday [local time], so it’s a little bit earlier in the window than we normally have, and that meant we only got two training sessions before the game.”
Bazeley on the plan against Poland: “We’re obviously going to play our possession game; we’ve got players that play possession-based football. What we’re challenged with is how can we turn that into more goal-scoring moments.
“We’ll definitely be looking at can we get the ball into the box, can we create more goal-scoring chances, and can we play that attractive style of football.”
Bazeley’s thoughts on Poland’s potential approach: “[They’ve] got a whole squad of very good players, obviously some top players, and the guys that are a bit well-known to us that played in Premier League and different top leagues around the world.
“I know Poland have a World Cup qualifier at the weekend so it will be interesting what the coach does in regards to selection.
“Will he go a fully strong team against us on a Thursday night here? But it’s a home game for Poland, so he’ll want to be strong in that.
“Or is he going to rest players and look towards the World Cup qualifier at the weekend? Whatever he does, the squad’s pretty deep of good, talented players, so it’s going to be a challenge.”
All Whites newcomer George Stanger on his potential senior international debut in this window: “It would be amazing for me, it’s something that has been a goal of mine for a long time and something I’ve been working towards.
“So to get the opportunity to be involved with the squad is a massive thing for me, and it’s exciting, and I’m learning a lot from it. But to get the opportunity to be on the pitch would be really special.”
– RNZ