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Dissecting an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses has become a common occurrence in football. But what happens when one of the teams is too busy dissecting this until they are late for the final training / Photo: PSSI
BANDUNG – Dissecting the strengths and weaknesses of opponents has become a common occurrence in football. But what happens when one of the teams at the 2023 U-17 World Cup is too busy dissecting this until they are late for final training.
That is what Poland U-17 experienced ahead of facing Japan U-17 in the preliminary round of Group D of the 2023 U-17 World Cup at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, Saturday (11/11/2023). Ahead of the match, coach Marcin Wlodarski gave the players more time to observe the game of potential opponents.
As a result, the team’s training was late arriving at the final training session at the West Java SPOrT Stadium. “Late for practice? Yes, because we had a discussion session first. We discussed Japan. Initially, we planned to only talk for 10 minutes, but instead it ended up being 20 minutes,” said Wlodarski in his press statement.
Wlodarski admitted that in that session, Japan was the theme of discussion because it was the first opponent. Apart from that, in his observations, the opposing team had many talented players. Moreover, they are also champions of the U-17 Asian Cup.
“So we have a lot of information about them. I already know how they play and how we can beat them,” he added.
The strength of the Polish team is no longer the same after four players were sent home because they were caught drinking alcoholic drinks during preparations in Bali some time ago. Responding to this, Wlodarski said that they were forced to do it as a form of discipline.
But the team has forgotten that it didn’t happen, so forget it. He emphasized that he wanted his team to just focus on the future. “Discipline is important for players. So we did what we had to do. I want to forget what happened and we have to ‘move on’ and look to the future,” he said.
“We are indeed in a difficult group. But I think we have the same chance as the other teams in this group. So we’ll see. But I am always optimistic and believe in my team,” said Wlodarski later.
Regarding the difference in weather, he admitted that the difference was very drastic. In Poland, he said, it is currently 0 degrees, while here it is very hot.
“Of course it’s different, very different. But we felt it was hotter when preparing in Bali. So it feels like we already know what we can do. I believe in the players,” he said.
(fly)