"Acted like an idiot"; "I find it unacceptable" - Former Poland stars slam Robert Lewandowski after he quit the national team
Former players Wojciech Kowalczyk and Grzegorz Lato have criticized Robert Lewandowski for his decision to stop playing for the Polish national team. The 36-year-old recently declared that he would not play for the national team until Michal Probierz was removed from the head coach position.
According to Lewandowski, Probierz had called him to inform him that he was being replaced as captain by Piotr Zielinski. The Barcelona star was surprised and hurt by the way the message was conveyed to him.
As quoted by TribalFootball, Kowalczyk said:
"Lewandowski acted like an idiot!"
Lato said no player should threaten the coach. He added that it was unacceptable from the Barcelona star, saying:
"I can't imagine a player, no matter what his name is, that denigrates a coach and threatens not to play anymore until the latter is in charge. I find it unacceptable."
Robert Lewandowski spoke about his decision to quit the national team and told WP SportoweFakty (via GOAL):
"I got a surprise call from coach Michał Probierz with the information that he had decided to take away my armband. I was not prepared for it at all, I was putting my children to sleep. The conversation lasted a few minutes. I didn't even have time to inform my family or talk to anyone about what had happened, because a few moments later, a message appeared on the PZPN (Poland) website. The way it was communicated to me is really surprising to me."
Robert Lewandowski has played 157 matches for the national team and scored 84 times, while providing 35 assists.
Robert Lewandowski 'hurt' by how he was informed about captaincy replacement
Robert Lewandowski told WP SportoweFakty that he was 'hurt' by the way he was informed about Piotr Zielinski replacing him as captain. Extremely unhappy with Michal Probierz, Lewandowski said:
"I haven't been captain for a year or two. I've been wearing the armband for eleven years, and I've been playing for the national team for seventeen. It seemed to me that such matters should be handled differently. Especially since there's a lot of time until the next training camp. In addition, we have an important match ahead of us, and everything was communicated over the phone. It really shouldn't be like this. The coach betrayed my trust."
He added:
"However, I want to emphasize: it's not like I'm suddenly offended with the national team. Over the years, I've always given the squad everything I have. The national team has always been the most important thing to me. At the same time, I'm very hurt by what happened. It's not even about the decision regarding the armband, but about the way it was communicated to me."
Lewandowski did not feature in Poland's 2-1 European World Cup Qualifier loss to Finland on Tuesday (June 10).
