Embattled Poland camp shows united front before Nations League tie with Scotland

An embattled Poland camp presented a united front ahead of their UEFA Nations League decider against Scotland as they came under fire for a series of issues in the wake of their 5-1 defeat by Portugal.

Head coach Michal Probierz had a terse exchange with a journalist as he defended his approach in the wake of losing five second-half goals in Oporto on Friday and there were further tense moments during the pre-match media conference.

Team manager Lukasz Gawrjolek joined Probierz and two players at the top table so he could apologise publicly for the mistake that deprived Karol Swiderski a cap on Friday.

The Charlotte striker had flown in from the United States to join the squad and was stripped and ready to come on during the second half, only to be told by the fourth official that his name had been left off the team lines.

Two players, Piotr Zielinski and Nicola Zalewski, were heavily criticised by former internationals and fans after being filmed stopping Cristiano Ronaldo and taking photographs of each other with the Portugal forward before he boarded his team bus after the game.

Zielinski was also put in front of the media along with goalkeeper Marcin Bulka, who was quizzed about why he had been wearing another player’s shorts and whether it impacted his performance, as well as being questioned over the accuracy of his long kicking.

Neither player said much of note about the incidents, with Bulka answering with contempt over the line of questioning he was facing.

Zielinski said: “I’m not interested in what’s going on in the media. For me, Ronaldo is one of the best footballers in the world, in history.

“I felt like it, I took a picture with him and that’s it. We lost the match, but am I supposed to hide in the corner? I approached him, asked, we took a picture and that’s it.”

Bulka, who had not noticed he was wearing the wrong shorts, added: “Is this one of the most important questions after the match with Portugal?”

Probierz defended his team manager following the team-sheet blunder.

“We are a team for better or for worse,” he said. “Everyone has the right to make mistakes. The same goes for Lukasz Gawrjolek, who made a mistake.

“That’s how it is in life, you have to accept it. As a team, we are together and ready to fight against Scotland.”

Explaining why he had put under-fire individuals in front of the media, the head coach said: “We wanted to give them an opportunity to speak out. We are all together. Every player is a human being. We sometimes forget that these are young people.”

Probierz came under the heaviest scrutiny. Only Bosnia & Herzegovina have conceded more than the 14 goals Portugal have let in during their Nations League campaign and the head coach is under pressure given defeat against Scotland would see them relegated to league B.

The coach, who stepped up from the under-21 set-up last year, was accused by one reporter of being a “besieged fortress”, of being nervous when asked about his tactics and was read out Albert Einstein’s definition of madness: doing the same things and expecting different results.

After both men interrupted each other several times, Probierz accused the reporter of acting with “pure malice” and said: “If you’re talking about style, we are adjusting, we are playing against the best teams.

“I speak to thousands of fans who prefer that style rather than sitting back and hitting the ball out. Many players feel good in this set-up.”

The head coach, who is without the injured Robert Lewandowski, added: “We want to protect the goal, it’s not as if we just say go out and play.

“We know the Scots have a different style and we want to play way better.”