Robert Lewandowski ‘special’ like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi says Poland boss Paulo Sousa, and stats back him up
POLAND boss Paulo Sousa has compared star striker Robert Lewandowski to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hotshot Lewandowski has scored a record 72 goals for Poland and banged in 56 for club and country last season.
Sousa said: “Robert is a key player. He’s very special, like Messi for Argentina or Ronaldo for Portugal. Also for their clubs.
“They are special — we need to understand that. But they don’t do things alone, they understand they need to relate with their team-mates.
“But with the energy of a player like Robert, he can make a big difference.
“The team is growing and giving the chances to Robert to be very special and make the difference.”
Lewandowski comes up against Harry Kane tonight and England boss Gareth Southgate reckons the fans in Warsaw will be watching two of Europe’s best strikers.
He said: “Lewandowski is a top striker.
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"The two of them (him and Kane), probably with Romelu Lukaku, immediately spring to mind when you talk of players who are a focal point of the team, as a No 9, with their scoring records.
“They all play slightly differently, although I see a lot of comparables with Lewandowski and Kane in the way they come deeper, receive play, play team-mates in and play those excellent passes — as well as their finishing capabilities.”
Former QPR, Swansea and Leicester boss Sousa knows just what to expect from the Euro 2020 finalists in Warsaw tonight.
He added: “England have key players that can play short and long and we need to be prepared for this intensity.
“Their players are used to playing in the best league, with a high tempo and high intensity, and at international level they can maintain a good level of performance.
“It is up to us to keep maintaining our mentality, like we have been showing in most of our games.”
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