Poland Coach Urban Praises Team After 2-2 Draw Against Nigeria

Poland head coach Jan Urban praised his players after their 2-2 draw with Nigeria’s Super Eagles in an international friendly at the Stadion PGE Narodowy in Warsaw.

The Super Eagles took the lead twice during the match, but Poland fought back on both occasions to earn a share of the spoils in an entertaining contest.

Nigeria opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Terem Moffi finished off a move created by Moses Simon. Poland levelled in first-half stoppage time through Kacper Potulski, who headed home from a cross by Nicola Zalewski.

Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle made seven changes at half-time, including giving Abdullahi Bewene his debut. Nigeria regained the lead in the 77th minute when substitute Paul Onuachu scored from the penalty spot.

However, Poland refused to surrender and grabbed a dramatic equaliser in the fifth minute of added time through Przemyslaw Wiśniewski to make it 2-2.

Despite not winning the match, Urban said he was happy with the way his team performed against a strong Nigerian side.

“The same thing happened as in our previous matches – we played well but the opponent scored. I was not worried because we were playing good football,” Urban said.

“It was a good game against a strong team. The goal we conceded could have been avoided. Until then, we had not allowed many dangerous chances.”

Urban admitted he was frustrated by how efficiently Nigeria took their opportunities but said the overall performance gave him confidence.

“The opponent did not create many chances but still scored from two or three opportunities. They punished us well. But these are friendly matches and we will learn from them,” he said.

The Poland coach also revealed that tactical changes helped his side improve after the break.

“We were thinking about the result, but we were also playing well and creating chances. We were close to scoring again.

“We had planned to switch to a four-man defence if needed. Later, when we wanted to push for the equaliser, we made the change and it helped us.”

Urban said his team would now focus on the UEFA Nations League and promised that there would be no room for experimentation.

“We will take the Nations League very seriously. I cannot imagine it any other way,” he added.

Nigeria will continue their European tour with another international friendly against Portugal on June 10.