“This match is not friendly,” said Michniewicz. “It’s going to be a battle between two teams that can both still make progress.”
To do this Poland will have to stop one of the world’s greatest players.
“It’s a big question, how to stop Lionel Messi,” Michniewicz joked. “I think the whole world has been thinking about it for the last 18 years. And I don’t think we’ll know until he’s playing.”
The Poland coach compared the Argentine striker to the former Olympic gold medalist in alpine skiing.
“Today at the briefing we talked about Messi acting on the pitch like Alberto Tomba on the slope,” Michniewicz said.
“He can avoid everyone like Tomba, so I need to put poles, means put our players in such a way that it becomes difficult for him. One player will not stop Messi, we have to do it as teamwork. Need to.” But we are ready for it.”
Michniewicz said that Poland would not approach the Games with the same strategy.
He said, “We don’t have an approach. We can’t only be defensive, we must also be offensive.”