England’s Futsal team faced Poland in two back-to-back games at St. George’s Park as Michael Skubala’s men continue their development.
With Poland currently ranked 19th by UEFA and on the back of an appearance at the Euro Finals in Slovenia, where they drew with the formidable Russians, England always knew it would be a tough encounter.
But the Three Lions came close on both occasions and put in a pair of impressive displays across the two days.
The first match saw England take the lead through skipper Raoni Medina before Poland levelled up going into the break.
And the second half saw a toe-for-toe battle, with both teams creating chances before Poland took the lead through a well-worked free-kick with just six minutes left.
This saw Skubala adopt the high-risk versus high-reward strategy of adopting the fly keeper to try and get a point but it was Poland who scored again against the run of play to finish the game with a 1-3 scoreline.
Game two was an exciting affair as both teams looked to attack each other from the off and England took the lead again through a Stuart Cook free-kick.
Medina then doubled the advantage with a cool finish through the keeper’s legs after a diagonal ball from James Webb.
Poland then started to throw everything at England before half time and got one back from a speedy counter attack.
The second half saw a wounded Poland come quickly out of the blocks as they scored again from a world class set piece to make it all level.
England then took the lead again through Max Kilman who rounded off some great skill on the wing from Liam Palfreeman.
Will Rooke then intercepted a ball to finish into an empty net to put England 4-2 up, somewhat against the run of play before Poland replied quickly to make it 4-4 with just seven minutes left.
It was then heartbreak for England, as Poland found the winner with a minute to play following an exquisite through ball and finish.
“We knew coming into these games it would be tough as Poland are a very strong Futsal nation,” said Skubala.
“But I could not be prouder of how the players performed across both games, to go and nearly beat them.
“Sure, we will always have things to learn from but anyone who was watching that would agree it was an incredible second game of Futsal.”
You can watch the matches back on the BBC here.
