Poland Midfielder Affirms Positive Team Atmosphere Despite Portugal Defeat

Poland midfielder Piotr Zielinski affirmed that the mood within the Poland squad remains positive, notwithstanding their significant 5-1 loss to Portugal on Friday night. Zielinski’s team has not secured a victory in its last four matches, having conceded a minimum of three goals in each of its previous three games. “The atmosphere is good, I know the result against Portugal was negative but I know what kind of match we’re in for against Scotland,” Zielinski said. “Everyone is up and ready for the game, win the match and stay in the division. We want a response [after the Portugal loss] and we want to finish the division in third place.” Zielinski, who plays his club football for Inter Milan, recently faced Napoli players Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour in a Serie A match-up last week. Regarding the Scottish midfielders, Zielinski commented, “They are great players. We’ve had an opportunity to play against each other, I’ve seen them play, they are key players for Scotland which we need to be very careful about. McTominay is in good physical condition, and is very good at entering the penalty box and looking for goals, and so is Billy. So we have to be careful of these players.” Zielinski and fellow Polish international Nicola Zalewski faced online criticism after being photographed with Cristiano Ronaldo following the 5-1 defeat on Friday night. Zielinski defended their actions, stating, “Myself and Nicola Zalewski came up to him and asked him for a picture and we took it. No problem with that. I don’t see a problem with that and Cristiano doesn’t see a problem with that. That’s it. I’m not interested in what’s going on in social media. Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world and I felt like getting a picture, that’s it.”