And one thing’s for sure: there isn’t room
for both Robert Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the World Cup in Qatar.
The World Cup playoff final between Poland
and Sweden on Tuesday doubles as a head-to-head between two of the leading
center forwards of this century.
For the 40-year-old Ibrahimovic, it could
even mark the final game of his international career, should Sweden lose in
Chorzow. He came out of international retirement in early 2021 with the aim of
playing at the European Championship — which he ultimately missed because of
injury — and then this year’s World Cup.
Surely the 2026 World Cup is beyond even
Ibrahimovic, someone who has previously likened himself to Benjamin Button.
As for Lewandowski, he is 33 and scoring as
freely as ever for Bayern Munich, one of the best clubs in Europe. Playing at a
World Cup in four years’ time isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
The bigger issue is whether Poland will
make it there, having only featured in one World Cup since 2006.
So much, then, is on the line for the two
players in the game at the Silesian Stadium — and Ibrahimovic won’t be in the
best position to influence it.
Only recently back from an Achilles tendon
injury and restricted to three late appearances as a substitute in Serie A
games for AC Milan this month, Ibrahimovic isn’t ready to start against Poland.
That was confirmed by Sweden coach Janne
Andersson on Monday. What Andersson wasn’t sure about was how many minutes
Ibrahimovic could play if he came on as a substitute, given the match could go
to extra time.
“It’s a great question,” Andersson said.
“We’ll evaluate that together. He was in full training now and we’ll talk to
the medical team to set a plan. It’s partly about how the match will be. It is
difficult to predict a match.
“You always have a basic plan, but you have
to be flexible. What happens in the match? It is completely impossible to
predict everything. Zlatan is a weapon for us, but he cannot play the whole
match.”
There were some concerns about
Lewandowski’s fitness, too, after he missed a friendly match against Scotland
on Thursday. Poland coach Czeslaw Michniewicz said Monday that Lewandowski
experienced knee tendon problems for a few days but was now fully fit and has
trained since Sunday.
“I have a hard time seeing that he would
not play now, considering that he played before the internationals,” Andersson
said. “But we’ll see.”
Definitely missing because of injury for
Poland, though, is Lewandowski’s strike partner, Arkadiusz Milik, but Krzysztof
Piatek is available despite needing stitches in a leg wound during the Scotland
game in Glasgow.
Sweden’s main injury concerns center around
midfielder Albin Ekdal and defender Joakim Nilsson, who weren’t in full
training on Monday.
Poland advanced to the playoff final
courtesy of a bye after its scheduled opponent in the semifinals, Russia, was
disqualified following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
It is Michniewicz’s first competitive game
in charge since he replaced Paulo Sousa as coach.
“We began to analyze the Swedes some time
ago and then we sped up that work because we learned that will not be playing
Russia,” Michniewicz said. “I know a lot about the Swedes — maybe even too much
because sometimes I wake up in the morning and see the Swedes before my eyes.” -AP