World Cup qualifiers: He cheers on us, too – interview with Michal Listkiewicz

He has a thousand ties to Polish and Hungarian football. He attended university in Budapest, was a Népsport correspondent in Warsaw, gained recognition as a FIFA referee, worked as an assistant referee at the 1990 World Cup finals in Rome, and was the President of the Polish Football Federation between 1999 and 2008. Now, at the age of 67, he is the honorary president of the Federation. We asked Michal Listkiewicz, who speaks excellent Hungarian too, about the Hungarian-Polish World Cup qualifier on March 25.

– What do you expect from the match in Budapest?
– Despite the fact that I'm a huge supporter of Hungarian football, I think the Polish national team now has more outstanding players than the Hungarian one. Especially without Dominik Szoboszlai. He is as important to the Hungarian team as Robert Lewandowski is to the Polish; they are indispensable. I would say the odds are about 65-70 percent that the Polish team wins. The only thing that makes me unsure is the recent change of captain. The main head coach, Paulo Sousa knows Hungarian football well which may be an advantage, but the fact that he hasn't held a single training session with the team and the first match is an immediate important clash, poses many dangers.

– How did you take the news of the captain's change? What was the reason for it after the national team qualified for the European Championships as first in the group?
– Jerzy Brzeczek is an excellent professional, but many thinks he's too young for this task at the age of 49. The truth is that the players didn't respect him, his personality wasn't characteristic enough. It was clear that Robert Lewandowski and he didn't match. After one game, journalists asked the Bayern München star what the team's tactics were. He didn't answer for 15 minutes. He didn't say anything bad about his captain, he didn't behave inappropriately, he just kept quiet. And that silence was talkative. The atmosphere was not good for the team and Zbigniew Boniek, the president of the Federation as a former player, knew perfectly what was going on in the background, even though the results were good. We beat the average teams all the time, but we didn't stand a chance against the top teams.

– Will Paulo Sousa be the solution?
– The Portuguese expert will have a very difficult task because now everyone expects him to perform a miracle in a short time, which means getting the team into the top eight at the European Championships and leading the national team to the World Cup. That's what the fans expect because we have the best striker in the world right now. However, football is a team sport, one man is not enough for glory. It's obvious he's playing better at Bayern than he is in the national team. His Bayern teammates know him better, and they pass more to him. Anyway, Paulo Sousa was right to call Lewandowski immediately and consult with him. It is believed that they have a good relationship, which is very important.

– Who else could you mention from the team besides Robert Lewandowski?
– Juventus' Wojciech Szczesny is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Centre-back Kamil Glik has also spent many years in Italy, as have Marseille's Arkadiusz Milik and Piotr Zielinski, the latter now playing for Napoli. Kamil Grosicki is also popular. He's been invited to the national team despite playing for English top-flight West Bromwich, where often times he doesn't have a place on the bench either. Fifteen or twenty of our players play football in Italy now, but almost every top league has a well-known Polish footballer.

– You've mentioned Dominik Szoboszlai earlier. Is he famous in Poland, too?
– Of course, he's popular within us, too. We're following his career, and a lot of people say he could become a huge star. It's good for us that he cannot play in this match, which significantly weakens the Hungarian team. The other strength for the host is Willi Orbán, who now has a hand injury, but he is likely to be on the pitch.

– Who else is considered popular from the Hungarian team in Poland?
– Nemanja Nikolić who became a champion and Polish top scorer in Legia in Warsaw. He even started learning Polish, was kind to everyone, and gave many interviews. He's a great player, a great man, he's loved by the Polish. But they also fondly remember Gergő Lovrencsics and Ádám Gyurcsó who also played in the Ekstraklasa. Ádám Szalai's name is often mentioned, but only among professionals and journalists.

– Péter Gulácsi?
– My opinion of him, which many people agree with, is that if he has a good day, he can win a game on his own, but if he has a bad day, he makes mistakes. The Hungarian team almost paid a price against Iceland because of this. His performance is not stable, balanced enough. Here in Poland, we consider Gábor Király the great Hungarian goalkeeper, and not because of his sweatpants.

– What is the image of current Hungarian football in Polish fans?
– Many people envy Hungary for the fact that the government and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán personally consider the necessity to support the sport; he considers it as a priority sector. But it was always important for Hungary to be successful in sports, as it was in the Kádár era as well. No wonder they're winning a lot of medals at the Olympics.

– How do you see the chances of our World Cup qualifying group?
– England is obviously the favorite. I think the Hungarian and Polish national teams will fight for second place. In my opinion, the Polish team has a better chance. I know what the Hungarian team is capable of; they have improved a lot lately, but I don't expect miracles from them. But again, it's a big disadvantage for us that Paulo Sosa has to test the team right during the match. Leo Beenhakker was already a Polish captain, huge name in the business. He managed Real Madrid, but he failed us, even though he had a lot more time to build the team. We play three games in six days at the end of March, and if we aren't off to a good start, then we can run after the others. These three games in March are also significant because they set the mood for the European Championships. If we play badly here, the fans will ask, “Why are we going to the European Championships?” So, it's going to be an extremely important game in Budapest.

– If there wasn't a pandemic, would you have come to the match?
– Of course. I've already planned my trip because I go to Hungary often anyway. I'm terribly sorry that there can be no spectators because they could have a beer together before and after the match, and the Hungarians and the Polish could celebrate, as is customary. I hope that the rematch will have spectators and guest fans, and that many Hungarians will come to further strengthen the friendship between the two nations. I hope that we will win in Budapest, but I won't be sad even if we don't. In Poland, we always felt that if we beat the Russians, we doubled the happiness, and we were twice as sad in the event of defeat, but when we lost to the Hungarians, we said, “We lost – but at least we lost to the Hungarians.”

THE SCHEDULE IN MARCH

HUNGARIAN NATIONAL TEAM
WORLD CUP 2022, QUALIFIERS
GROUP I
ROUND 1, MARCH 25, THURSDAY
8.45PM:Hungary – Poland

ROUND 2, MARCH 28, SUNDAY
8.45PM:San Marino – Hungary

ROUND 3, MARCH 31, WEDNESDAY
8.45PM:Andorra – Hungary

Translated by Vanda Orosz