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Thursday, January 2, 2025

Armageddon at Narodowy. It seemed like it was over! The test must wait for the Polish National Team

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This was Marcin Bułka's third match in the senior national team, and only his second full-time match. After all, we are talking about a man who made his debut in this national team less than a year ago. The debut and call-ups are absolutely right, because Bułka shows class in Ligue 1 and is a star league. IN Polish national team However, it is not getting closer to “number one” that quickly.

Watch the video Storm after the Poland – Portugal match. Cristiano Ronaldo in the main role

Skorupski is not much, but always on top

Besides, this fight for the number one position might not have taken place if Łukasz Skorupski had been getting more chances recently. The fact that a solid goalkeeper, who has been playing in foreign clubs almost continuously, has only collected 13 goals in the 12 years since his debut in the national team. matches – including the last ones – reminds us of the wealth we had on goal. In the last decade, Łukasz Fabiański and Wojciech Szczęsny ruled there, and the solid Skurupski had only played four points matches until he said goodbye to Szczęsny's team, i.e. until September this year.

In almost all these important matches, the 33-year-old showed class. And the latter were even outstanding. In the clash on Euro 2024 he stayed with France football player match, he contributed significantly to our one draw in this tournament. He also saved our skin several times in Saturday's match against Portugal. The icing on the cake was his intervention after a shot near Bruno Fernandes' box. Skorupski has practically set the bar set by Szczęsny in the national team at the same level. So we watched with curiosity whether Bułka would be able to catch up with her on Tuesday in the match against Croatia. Finally, coach Michał Probierz clearly announced that Skorupski and Bułka will take turns defending in the Nations League, and their competition will determine the number 1 goalkeeper for next year's World Cup qualifications.

It was impossible to draw a constructive assessment in Bułka's first two matches in the national team. Against Latvia he played a good second half, but it was a friendly match and against a weak opponent, such a soft debut of the OGC Nice goalkeeper in the national team. The recent match against Scotland, in which he played full-time, did not go so easily. It is true that Poland won against Scotland in a landslide, but Bułka – next to Jakub Kiwior – was, in our opinion, the weakest player in this match. “He was unsure in the foreground in the first part of the game, and then he let it pass under the belly Gilmour's shot on a contact goal,” we summarized.

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Although it is impossible to repeat these words after the first half of the match against Croatia, Bułka did not have the opportunity then, or he did not do anything, after which one could open one's mouth with delight, or at least stand up and applaud.

Armageddon and moments of glory

For Rolls paradoxically, it was a difficult match, or rather a difficult start to the match. Our two-meter tall player was often standing and freezing for the first 20 minutes. During this time, the Croatians were actually under our goal only once. The roll was sometimes warmed up by his teammates, who played the ball through him, because according to coach Probierz's assumptions, the White and Reds tried to constantly play from the back. It was an excellent part of the match for the Poles, who scored a goal in the 5th minute to make it 1-0. During this time, Bułka also sent an accurate long pass once. But then Armageddon began – both for the team and the goalkeeper.

Between the 20th and 26th minutes, Poland lost three goals. Two of them were firecrackers. First, Borna Sosa shot a volley under the crossbar. A few minutes later, Petar Sucić showed off an individual action. He shot from a dozen or so meters on the left side, and the ball went into the net off the post. Bułka was right to protect the closer one, and the Croatian showed precision and looked for the far one. Perhaps it was during the third goal that Bułka had the greatest chance for an effective intervention, although it was also an almost one-on-one situation. Could he have left sooner? Block more effectively? He got the ball between his legs and the score was 1:3. No magic or miracle happened in these situations.

Bułka had no intervention during the entire first half. The first shots he saved came only after the break. First, he parried Luka Modric's long-range shot to the corner. Then he was flying in the air after a shot by Igor Matanovic border penalty area line. The nicest intervention was probably the one made a few minutes later, after a corner kick and a close-range shot by Ante Budimir. If Bułka had a six-minute armageddon in the first half, he had a seven-minute moment of glory in the second half. It was his interventions that kept us in the game for a draw with the score 2-3.

This second half, with five interventions, increased his chances for the competition to continue at its best, and Skorupski did not fall too far behind his younger colleague. Although it seems that he, Skiorupski, is currently a modest leader in the race for the No. 1 position.

Therefore, it seems that we will see the goalkeeper competition even until March, if then Poland will play in the play-offs to stay in Division A of the Nations League. Unless Touchstone decides that two November matches against Portugal and Scotland are enough to indicate a better team in these possible matches.



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