Home
Poland coach Paulo Sousa on Monday named his squad for next month's European Championship that begins on June 11 with winger Kamil Grosicki the biggest name to miss out on the 26-man squad.
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski is set to lead the team while 17-year-old midfielder Kacper Kozłowski made the cut after making his debut in March. The Portuguese coach also named four reserves.
"I'm enthusiastic and, as I said before, we need unity, faith and confidence from the very beginning," Sousa told reporters. "Based on the experience from the previous three meetings of the Polish national team, the team I have appointed is the best decision at the moment."
Injured forward Krzysztof Piątek was left out after the Polish FA confirmed last week that the 25-year-old needed surgery after fracturing his ankle with Hertha Berlin while Grosicki only made the reserves list.
"Kamil has extensive experience and contributed a lot to the national team," Sousa said. "However, we want to look at a different development path for this team... to be successful. Making this decision was difficult, but I always put my emotions aside."
Attacking midfielder Sebastian Szymański did not make the cut either and Sousa said his role for his club Dynamo Moscow worked against him.
"We wanted to use him on the right side of the field because he is a talented player. At his club, he plays as a central midfielder, but I have a different concept in the squad," Sousa added. "I'm counting on him to maintain the pace of development we have seen so far and I believe he will be able to help the team in the future."
Goalkeeper Radosław Majecki was the 27th name on the list but he has been called up only for their training camp in Opalenica.
Poland are in Group E along with Spain, Sweden and Slovakia. Sousa's side play Slovakia in their opening group game in St Petersburg on June 14.
POLAND EURO 2021 SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Łukasz Fabiański (West Ham), Łukasz Skorupski (Bologna), Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus)
Defenders: Jan Bednarek (Southampton), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Paweł Dawidowicz (Hellas Verona), Kamil Glik (Benevento), Michał Helik (Barnsley), Tomasz Kędziora (Dynamo Kyiv), Kamil Piątkowski (Rakow Czestochowa), Tymoteusz Puchacz (Lech Poznan), Maciej Rybus (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Midfielders: Przemysław Frankowski (Chicago Fire), Kamil Jóźwiak (Derby County), Mateusz Klich (Leeds United), Kacper Kozłowski (Pogon Szczecin), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Lokomotiv Moscow), Karol Linetty (Torino), Jakub Moder (Brighton), Przemysław Płacheta (Norwich City), Piotr Zieliński (Napoli)
Forwards: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Dawid Kownacki (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Arkadiusz Milik (Marseille), Karol Świderski (PAOK), Jakub Świerczok (Piast Gliwice)
Reserves: Rafał Augustyniak (Ural Yekaterinburg), Kamil Grosicki (West Brom), Robert Gumny (Augsburg), Sebastian Szymański (Dynamo Moscow)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex Richardson and Christian Radnedge)
