Robert Lewandowski may have been named MVP in Poland‘s 2-0 victory over Saudi Arabia after scoring his first ever World Cup goal, but his team may have not grabbed all three points had it not been for goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
The Juventus shot-stopper, who has yet to concede in the 2022 World Cup, produced an extraordinary double save to help Poland clinch the victory. Szczesny saved Salem Al-Dawsari‘s penalty before denying Mohammed Burayk, who pounced on the rebound.
“The second save is much more difficult. It was really decisive,” he said after the game.
“We goalkeepers can’t score goals, so saving a penalty in a World Cup is the most we can do.
“At Juventus we have developed a method of analyzing the penalty takers. In the last two years we have saved the same number of penalties as we have conceded.
“I would say the method works, but I can’t give all the credit to [goalkeeping coach] Claudio Filippi.”
The figures speak by themselves, as Szczesny has saved three of the last six penalties Juventus opponents took in Serie A.
Messi awaits him
Poland will take on Argentina on Wednesday in their bid to secure last-16 qualification and Szczesny has claimed that he is ready to face Lionel Messi.
“You want to face the best and Messi is one of them,” he added.
“Leo, as a penalty taker, is difficult to analyze. He shoots both in the centre and wide. I’ll be ready, but I hope there are no more penalties against us.
“I’ll never say we’ll play for a draw but I’d immediately sign for a 0-0 draw.”
Serious injury almost led to retirement
Back in 2008, he was almost forced to hang up his gloves due to an untimely accident at the age of 18, when he was plying his trade at Arsenal.
“I was in the gym doing squats when I lost my balance and the weight fell on my hands and broke both of them,” he recalled.
“It was a little bit bizarre. There was actually a few people in the gym at the same time and they said they were about to laugh before they realised my arms were not quite straight.
“It was very tough, probably the toughest it has ever been for me.
“For four months I was not able to play football and it affected my whole life. I couldn’t do all the things that normal people do.
“I was very down at some points, but I never had any doubts that I was going to recover from it.
“The belief that I was going to recover and be a good goalkeeper kept me going.”
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