– I'll get ahead of the situation before questions arise. Due to a human error, Karol Świderski was not included in the match squad and could not play against Portugal. The player has already been apologized and we consider the topic closed – this is how the press conference of the Polish national team was held after match The team's spokesman, Emil Kopański, started with Portugal.
This immediately addressed the situation that occurred during the second half at the Estadio do Dragao. In the 72nd minute, when Cristiano Ronaldo converted the penalty to make it 2-0, Karol Świderski was waiting on the sideline, ready to make a substitution.
The striker of the Polish national team was supposed to strengthen our attack by replacing Kacper Urbański. He did, but ultimately didn't take the field. Instead, Adam Buksa came on to replace the Bologna midfielder.
The technical referee, who is the last person to decide on the substitution, noticed that Świderski was not in the match squad. Even though the striker was included in the squad graphic published on Thursday and normally arrived at the stadium and was ready to play, he could not take part.
The situation was confirmed by the official squads we received. Świderski was not on the bench in them. Officially, the human error was confirmed by Kopański, and later Michał Probierz also commented on it. Even though the situation was bizarre and seemed amateurish, the coach kept his nerves under control. Touchstone answered the question about this situation with surprising calm.
Touchstone: The human factor failed
– I have been working in my profession for over 20 years, but I have never experienced such a set of circumstances as today – he began. – But it's human error that we have to understand. It is not an art to burn someone at the stake, added the coach of the Polish national team.
– The human factor failed, we have to understand that. The whole surroundings of this match, numerous injuries and the game itself in the second half had an impact on this. This is all hard to accept, but it happened and there is nothing we can do. Immediately after the match, I apologized to Karol for the situation that occurred – he added.
The Polish national team found itself in a very difficult situation. On Monday, it turned out that he would not come to the training camp Robert Lewandowski. Przemysław Frankowski and Michael Ameyaw left Porto on Wednesday. He was injured on Friday before the match Sebastian Szymañskiand also included Bartosz Bereszyński, Jan Bednarek and Taras Romanczuk.
Touchstone admitted that Bereszyński and Bednarek would most likely not be able to play against Scotland on Monday at the National Stadium. For now, it is not known whether we will be able to get back on our feet Szymañski and Romanczuk. Touchstone also announced that he would add additional players to the team. For now, however, it is not known who and when.
The match against Scotland will decide whether Poland will stay in Division A of the Nations League. For now, both teams have four points after the Scots defeated Croatia (1-0) on Friday. If the Poles score at least a point on Monday, they will play in the relegation play-off in March. If they lose, they will be directly relegated to Division B.