In an exclusive interview the Poland striker opens up on life as one of the world’s best strikers, his aims at the World Cup and why he calls himself Emil when out with his friends
The Olympiastadion in Munich was the scene of Poland’s two biggest football successes, so it is an apt location to meet the man carrying the nation’s hopes on his shoulders this summer. Robert Lewandowski has been a leader of this Polish generation for quite some time, yet he is about to play in his first World Cup. Qualifying disappointments in 2010 and 2014 have meant that one of the world’s best finishers has been forced to look on as other players have made the headlines.
In the 1970s, Poland, inspired by Grzegorz Lato and Jan Tomaszewski, won the 1972 Olympic gold medal at the Olympiastadion and came back two years later to secure third place at the World Cup, in the same arena. The intervening years have not been as kind to the nation – although they had a wonderful team in the 80s – and Lewandowski and his team-mates are desperate to make up for lost time. They are eighth in the Fifa rankings and were among the top group of seeds for the World Cup in Russia. Can Lewandowski and co repeat the feats of Lato’s Poland and get to the semi-finals? Lato scored seven goals in the 1974 World Cup …
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