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Fernando Santos: We want this team to be characterised by victory
"The most important thing today was to win. After a defeat, a win is extremely important for the team to consolidate. We had a week of work, some training sessions. We are aware of what we still need to improve. We will build everything step by step in which the victories will help", said the Poland national team manager Fernando Santos after the 1:0 win against Albania.
"Key to today's victory was the dedication of the players and the fact that everyone worked diligently for the benefit of the team. The support of the fans and the atmosphere in the stadium also helped us a lot. The support of the fans is extremely important, and I thank them very much for that. It was this and the character of the players that resulted in the victory. I am aware that as a collective we could have been better, but our triumph was a fair result. We controlled the game, created more chances for ourselves and presented a very good quality of play at times. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of work ahead of us", noted the coach.
"I think that, if we maintain this level of commitment and concentration, it will be a starting point for a nicer, more spectacular game. We can improve the planning of our plays so that they appeal to the fans. We are working on this constantly. In the next international break we will have more time, we will plan training differently to evolve in the right direction. We want this team to be characterised by victory", the Portuguese pointed out.
Some players surprised me positively, others not really. Some didn't play, but it's possible that they will have their chance in the next matches. We will get a lot of answers from training, because it is something else to watch footballers on TV and something else to watch them live. Today I based my choice of players more on training, because we had more time. I have more awareness and knowledge of the players, so we will be able to use their potential better. For example, Sebastian Szymanski played in Prague as a winger because it seemed that his technique would allow him to go down the middle and strike at goal. However, I realised that the side area of the pitch was limiting him, as Sebastian is more comfortable in the middle of the pitch. The coaches are learning their players to use them better. We will evolve with them", he stressed.
If players from the Polish league played too poorly, they would not be called up. I do not exclude anyone from the national team just because of which league they play in. It should be noted that the top PKO BP Ekstraklasa clubs have many foreign and fewer Polish players. However, I have noticed that those we have called up have a very good approach. I will keep an eye on everything and if I think someone will be useful to me, I will not hesitate to send him a call-up", concluded Fernando Santos.
