France-Poland is a special meeting for you, we can imagine that you have your heart divided?
Obviously, these are two countries that are important to me and to my family. At the same time, we're also looking forward to the match because it will be a great World Cup 1/8 final.
The Polish diaspora is numerous in France, but you have also worn the White Eagles jersey. Is that a difficult double culture to assume before this match?
No, on the contrary, it's quite funny, the "ford-war" between the two sides of the family. My father is from Bretagne, my mother is of Polish origin, so it's a bit of a tease, it's nice. I have friends who also have this double culture and it's obviously shared, but as we're passionate, we refocus on tactics, on everything that could happen.
You became a Polish international in 2011. Did your arrival, like that of Ludovic Obraniak, respond to a major scouting effort on the part of the federation to attract binationals, like Matty Cash today?
For Ludo as for me, there was indeed a lot of work done by the federation. At that time, five or six of us were called up as binationals. There was a kind of recruitment operation concerning players with Polish origins and likely to come and reinforce the selection. In my case, there were rumours but the federation sent someone to meet me and talk to me at my home to explain the project.
Were you well received? One can imagine that for some of the public and your teammates, you were at odds with them.
I didn't speak Polish and it was quite difficult to make myself understood, so everything was done in English. I wouldn't call it animosity, but sometimes you feel that you are not welcome, in the sense that you can be led to believe that you are taking the place of a player who was already there or another who has played in all the youth categories. In short, that you are taking the place of a 'real' Pole who was born in the country and has his whole family there. There have been articles published that point in that direction. But then there is also a question of quality. At the time, were we better than those who were there? I'm not in the best position to say, but in any case, the coach had made his choices.
Despite this, there are historical links between the two countries that could have facilitated your acceptance?
I always made sure to keep politics out of it. It was about football. But, of course, politics got involved. I want to put things in the context of the time. When I was accused by the Polish far right of being a place-stealer and that I was a "dirty French scumbag", they didn't hesitate to tell me so. We went to court because they had smeared my name and my grandmother's name. Nevertheless, I took a step back from that because my priority was to play for my grandmother. I also took it badly because this kind of criticism came from Jan Tomaszewski, who had been the national team's goalkeeper (63 caps between 1971 and 1981, and later became a member of parliament in a populist party). He was listened to, even if another part of the country hated him. He had an influence and that touched me a lot, even more because it shocked my grandmother who was in love with Poland. It was not obvious but I must say that I never felt anything negative when I was with the band. There was never any malice towards me.
When you have a double culture, belonging to your parents' and grandparents' culture is transmitted through cultural vectors, often through gastronomy.
My grandmother was proud to share her Polish culture with us, and this was done through cooking. It transported me, it showed me her attachment, it touched me enormously. Above all, it allowed me to know the roots of my life, quite simply. It was important for her and it was important for me too. I had a special bond with my grandmother, she was like a second mother. I ate and slept at her house when my parents were working. She was very important in my life and passed on everything she knew about Poland. When she came with me to Poland for Euro 2012, the first thing she said to me after the opening match was that I had made her dream come true before she died. That makes me even more proud.
Your first selection was in 2011 against Germany. It builds character!
It wasn't the ideal match for me because it was a big game and, on top of that, I had just come back from a European Cup match where I was a bit injured. In the end, I played 70 minutes and it went rather well. It was quite a first because, when you're told you're going to start against Miroslav Klose, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos, Mario Götze... But at some point, well, you have to go!
We fast-forward and we get to that 1/8th of the World Cup final. Czesław Michniewicz, the Polish coach, has been heavily criticised despite the qualification because his game is mainly defensive, without an overwhelming success. Does he have a special plan in mind to face the French team or will it be in the same register as against Argentina?
I don't know if he's planning something different, I think he'll stay mainly focused on the defensive aspect. It's almost a certainty. That said, I suspect a tactical change. During the qualifiers and the Nations League, he played with a three-man defence before opting to go to four during this World Cup. Going back to 3 would allow him to occupy much more of the width of the pitch because the blue waves could break through on the flanks.
If the match should go to penalties, it seems that Wojciech Szczesny is particularly sharp since the beginning of the competition.
He is the best Polish player at the World Cup. When I said that in Poland, I added: "That's how good this team is". I was rebuked because I was supposedly spitting on the national team. But I only told the truth! Wojciech was enormous. When you see what he has been able to achieve since the beginning of the World Cup... It's more a question of the coach: he wants to play defensively, but Szczesny is one of the goalkeepers who turned away the most shots in the group stage. The defensive logic is not respected and it does not exist. Szczesny is the one who qualifies Poland. If he doesn't take the penalty against Saudi Arabia, it's 1-1 at half-time. I'll be told that Lewandowski missed his penalty against Mexico, but the coach's message for this first match was not to lose the match. That's pretty strong! His plan was to get at least a point, thinking we'd already won against the Saudis. Except that they had beaten Argentina and that kind of calculation could have backfired. It really bothers me to say that my best player is my goalkeeper when the tactics are defensive. It's illogical.
His save on Lionel Messi's penalty was perfect, the shot was powerful.
The penalty is very well taken. But Wojcieh also makes a double save on the penalty against Saudi Arabia. He is in "overdrive". Afterwards, in a penalty shoot-out, it's a lottery.
Could a switch to 3-5-2 give Piotr Zielinski, who has been in the thick of things since the start of the competition, a better chance to get some fresh air?
Zielinski is inside because he only defends. It's not a question of technical accuracy. Since the beginning of the World Cup, he spends his time running. Obviously, when you have the ball and you're away from the goal and you're very tired, it's very difficult. Zielinski needs to have the ball. Of course he has to defend, but he has to do it for 95 minutes because that's what the coach wants. You can't blame him for not giving good balls to Robert Lewandowski because he doesn't have the clarity to do so. Going to the back three would allow Matty Cash's counter-attacking qualities to be used, knowing that on the left side of the French attack, it goes up a lot and therefore leaves space defensively.
Are Poland hoping too much for a Lewandowski goal to get through?
If you put yourself in the coach's shoes, you think that the only ball his players will have, they will have to exploit. But if you spend all your time defending, it makes things too difficult. Against Argentina, Lewandowski made one, two, three sprints but after a while he couldn't go any further. There might be a negotiable ball but if it comes and your strikers are tired... That's the problem with Poland. That's the problem with Poland. By defending, the players don't produce anything. It's a pity because these players have technical quality, they are really good, but we have the impression that we don't exploit all their qualities. Without openly criticising him, Lewandowski spoke of the coach's game plan. We have players who can hold the ball, who have to play. I'm curious to see how they will adapt tactically against France.
When Barcelona play at the Camp Nou, the stadium is taken over by a lot of Polish fans who come for Lewandowski. He's a real icon.
The fervour for football in Poland is incredible. Lewandowski is obviously the star and the emblematic player of the national team. He's made an impression on people all over the world. People want to see him play and share his environment. Unfortunately, there are few Polish fans in Qatar because the trip is not affordable for many people. Lewandowski is an emotional machine and also a slot machine because, it must be said, he brings in money precisely because he provokes these emotions.
Have you been surprised by his adaptation to Barça and La Liga? You get the impression that his arrival at Barcelona was very well thought out with his wife.
It's true that he has done worse than Barcelona for a family project. Besides, he's a very straightforward person, very good with his family. He has the image of an ideal son-in-law. He arrived in a Barça that wasn't doing very well, even if it was better than a few seasons ago. He is piling up the goals, so some people have had doubts about his ability to contribute to his team's play. He's very technical, he knows how to make others play too and that fits with Barça. I'm not even surprised by his adaptation, that he's still a goal machine. For me, he's the best typical centre-forward at the moment.
