Lewandowski and Messi lead Poland and Argentina in clash of styles

29-Nov-2022 17:32:14 | Guardian

The two veteran superstars have competed for individual awards before and will both carry their nations’ hopes

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the sharpest of them all? On Wednesday night all eyes at Stadium 974 will be drawn, inexorably, to football’s version of a beauty contest: can Lionel Messi’s rich attacking gifts guide Argentina into the knockout phase or might Robert Lewandowski’s uncanny efficiency in front of goal enable Poland to eclipse the Group C favourites?

“We rely on these great strikers but an individual cannot win alone,” Czeslaw Michniewicz, Poland’s head coach, said on Tuesday. “But it’s not only a battle between Lewandowski and Messi – it’s not tennis, it’s not one-on-one, they are not serving! Robert needs his teammates, the same as Leo.”