Friday, September 6, 2013

6 September 2011 - The Wait Wasn't As Long For The Next One

On 6 September 2011, striker Robert Lewandowski gave Poland their first goal against Germany in over 31 years as they played to a 2-2 draw.

Poland has, over the course of the team's existence, had a very poor record against Germany (counting games against West Germany before unification). Prior to the 2011 match, the two teams had met sixteen times, with the Germans winning twelve of those and the other four ending as draws. The last Polish player to score against Germany was Łódź striker Zbigniew Boniek in May 1980 (two years later, Boniek moved to Italy where he enjoyed successful spells with Juventus and Roma). Since then, the teams had met only four times, with Germany winning each one.

But in Gdánsk in 2011, Robert Lewandowski--who had just moved to Germany after joining Borussia Dortmund the year before--completed the end of a 55th-minute counter-attack to put Poland up 1-0. The lead lasted only thirteen minutes before thee referee awarded a penalty to Germany, duly converted by Toni Kroos.

Poland received a penalty of their own in the 90th minute, with Jakub Blaszczykowski taking the honors and restoring the lead. But with just seconds left, the hosts were denied a landmark victory when second-half substitute striker Cacau scored in the 94th minute to end the game as a 2-2 draw.

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