Poland's Walczak: Level drop down to generational change
Speaking to Egypt 2021's official website, Polish international Patryk Walczak spoke of the challenge facing Poland in the first stage.
The Polish team contest Group B alongside Spain, Brazil and Tunisia, with Walczak stating that the group will require a lot of effort from his team in order to have a good showing.
"Our group is definitely demanding and it will take a lot of work to get out of the group. First of all, we have to win as many matches as possible," said Walczak.
"There has been a lot of rotation in the team over the last few years, there has been a generational change, we have worked with several coaches, and only now it is stabilising somewhere and it is going in the right direction.
" We will be leaving Warsaw on January 13th, but we have had good preparations before the end of the year when we played a friendly tournament in Poland with Russia and Algeria.
On the newly introduced 32- team format tournament, the biggest yet in the history of the sport, Walczak thought it's an improvement on the previous format although he did have some reservations.
"From my point of view, the number of 32 teams is good on the marketing side of things because a lot of matches will be broadcast, but from the players' point of view it is definitely a greater physical burden, which is sometimes really not easy."
Poland amassed 13 previous appearances in the World Championships, clinching second place in 2007 as their best ever finish.
Photo via ZPRP