Poland is going to the World Cup! “We showed character, determination and fight until the end.”

Marcin Kasprowicz’s players started their European competitions with a one-goal win over Belgium. However, in the second round of the group stage, they lost 0-1 to the Spaniards and the fate of promotion had to be decided by the last match, in which the Poles faced their peers from Portugal. A draw was enough for our team and Marcin Kasprowicz’s players won the draw. The opponents responded to Weronika Arasniewicz’s goal with a goal scored by Joanna Valiente, but by the end of the match the score had not changed and the Polish representatives were able to enjoy advancing to the semi-finals.

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In it, fate brought together our team with the very strong English team, which stormed the group stage by successively defeating the Norwegians (3-0), the Swedes (5-1), and the defending champions, the French (1-0). ). The Polish opponents in the women’s semi-final have been on a roll for a long time. The last time England Under-17s lost was on May 23, 2023, in the semi-finals of last year’s European Championship. Since then, neither team has been able to snatch a single point from them, and the winning streak was 12 matches before the clash with the Whites and Reds. Despite the ambitious spirit shown by coach Marcin Kasprowicz’s players, their opponents appeared better. After goals from Niamh Peacock and Vera Jones, the English won 2-0.

The Polish women – along with the French – took third place at the European Championships (UEFA does not award medals to teams eliminated in the semi-finals – only the finalists in the event receive medals), but both teams still faced all who are they. The other was in a confrontation whose share was a trip to the World Championships, organized at the turn of October-November in the Dominican Republic (the best three European championships qualified).

And although the “Tricolor” were the defending European champions in this age group, the Poles were not afraid of their rivals and – after a goal by Olivja Czewiček, striker of Ślik Wrocław – took the lead. The French responded with two goals from Justin Roque, but the Whites and Reds were able to equalize thanks to Olivia Labinska’s goal, and the fate of the competition was decided by a penalty shootout. Coach Marcin Kasprowicz’s players triumphed there, winning 4:2 and going to the World Championship!

– We went to this tournament with a clearly defined goal: we wanted to play in the finals and go to the Dominican Republic. This year we were not allowed to reach the final, but after the semi-final against England, we knew that we were interested in qualifying for the World Cup and we believed strongly in that. In the match against France, we showed our character, determination and fight until the end, even though it was our fifth match in the tournament and we had already covered a lot of kilometers – said Olivia Zwiacek, striker of the Polish national team, to Polsat Sport.

Sniper Olske Wrocław was our most effective player in the qualifiers, and in the European U17 Championship itself she scored two very important goals: the winning goal in the opening match against Belgium and the 1-0 score in the deciding match against Belgium. French.

-I thought I looked good throughout the tournament. My little dream was to score a goal with the Tricolor team and I was able to fulfill this dream – said the striker.

Olivia Stoarceszny added that the strength of the Polish team lies in the fact that the team – despite several difficult moments during the tournament – did not lose confidence in qualifying for the World Cup.

– There was no doubt about our team at any time. Even in the two games we lost to Spain and England, we played at a really high level. “In these matches, we were a little lacking in effectiveness,” said sniper Olonsek.

The Whites and Reds striker, like many of her teammates, regularly plays in the first team at Polish league level. As she stresses, the experience gained from adult football certainly helped the national team, but the key, according to the federation, was team cohesion.

– It is known that most of us play in major league teams, which is a great value for this team, but I think we have made great progress over the past year and have become, above all, a well-coordinated team.

Olivia Zviaszek added that although the entire white and red team undoubtedly deserves recognition, she herself would choose…a friend from the club.

– All the players participating in the European U-17 Championship showed great skills, but I would like to make a special mention of Christina Fleiss. These European Championships were an exciting time for her.

History Al-Ittihad is a great example that everything in football can change literally in the blink of an eye. Not long ago, in the 2021/2022 season, the sniper played for… Świt Barczaca in the Masovian IV League.

– I never thought that I would be able to achieve so much in such a short time. “Getting third place at the European Championships and qualifying for the World Cup is a really nice feeling – concluded Oliva Csveček.

The U-17 World Championship will be held from October 16 to November 3 in the Dominican Republic. Apart from the Poles, Spain, England (European Championship finalists), New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia, USA, Mexico and Japan have already qualified for the tournament.

Go to Polsatsport.pl