Not only Michał Probierz. They also left the team after the scandal

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The Polish national team entered this century with Jerzy Engel as the coach. The beginnings were excellent — the White and Reds stormed through the 2002 World Cup qualifiers in South Korea and Japan. The team went to Asia with great hopes, which the coach himself did not hide.

However, defeats 0:2 with South Korea and 0:4 with Portugal meant that after only two matches his team lost the chance to advance from the group. As a consolation prize, in the match for "honour" and with a significantly changed line-up, they defeated the USA 3:1, and after returning to Poland, the coach of that time stopped performing this function.

"We have terminated the contract with coach Engel with effect from 1 July. The coach accepted it and the players confirmed it. The assumptions were not fulfilled and the coach is responsible for that," informed Michał Listkiewicz, then president of the Polish Football Association, on 21 June 2002.

Engel was replaced by then vice-president Zbigniew Boniek, but he lasted less than half a year as team coach. He resigned — in rather mysterious circumstances — in early December 2002, informing the Polish Press Agency about it by phone.

Shortly afterwards, Paweł Janas was entrusted with the role of coach. The national team failed to advance to Euro 2004 in Portugal, but qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. However, the World Cup turned out to be a huge disappointment. The White and Reds lost their first two matches (0:2 with Ecuador, 0:1 with Germany) and were the first to lose their chance to advance to the 1/8 finals. In the end, they defeated Costa Rica 2:1 and returned home.

Listkiewicz was very diplomatic towards Janas, but journalists and fans were not so understanding. The team and the coach at the time were met with a wave of criticism.

"We highly value the work of coach Janas," said president Listkiewicz at a press conference on July 11, 2006, after the meeting of the PZPN board, announcing the end of cooperation with the previous coach and signing a contract with Leo Beenhakker.

"Today we are opening a new chapter in the history of Polish football. We managed to convince a coach who is respected in the world of football and has achieved a lot of titles. I believe that Beenhakker will introduce a new quality to Polish football," Listkiewicz added.

The Dutch team advanced to the 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland in great style, despite a difficult group, including Portugal, Serbia and Belgium. However, the tournament was once again a disappointment for Polish fans. The Polish national team lost to Germany 0:2, drew with Austria 1:1 and finally lost to Croatia, which played with a heavily reserve team, 0:1.

After the Euro, the experienced coach remained in his position, becoming the first coach in the Polish squad after a major tournament this century.

In the autumn of 2008, however, there was a change in the position of the president of the Polish Football Association - Listkiewicz was succeeded by Grzegorz Lato. As time passed, the relations between the new authorities of the federation and the coach became increasingly tense. Ultimately, at the end of the unsuccessful qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, the Dutchman stopped performing his function.

President Lato, right after the 0:3 defeat to Slovenia in Maribor, announced that this was the Dutchman's last match as a national team coach. The then head of the federation first announced his decision to the media, for which the Dutchman had a big grudge against him. That is why he did not show up at the PZPN headquarters in mid-September 2009.

"The coach has done a great job in Polish football. He won a historic promotion to the European Championship, which gave him a chance. Now, however, it is clear that something has gone wrong between him and the team, as well as the Polish Football Association," Lato admitted calmly at Okęcie after returning from Slovenia.

In the remaining two qualifying matches the team was led by Stefan Majewski.

Then came the era of Franciszek Smuda. At Euro 2012, the Poles did not have to qualify, because as co-hosts of the tournament they were guaranteed participation. The performance was again unsuccessful - two points in the group after 1-1 draws with Greece and Russia in Warsaw and a 0-1 defeat to the Czech Republic in Wrocław.

"I talked to coach Smuda. His contract ends on August 31. We have jointly reached the conclusion that I will pay him all salaries and payments due until the contract expires. And we are already starting the procedures aimed at selecting a new coach," admitted president Lato on June 19, 2012.

Less than a month later, Waldemar Fornalik became Smuda's successor.

Known for his solid work in clubs, the coach failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and the next president of the Polish Football Association, Zbigniew Boniek, entrusted the coach's duties to Adam Nawałka.

The unwritten rule that it is bad for all parties when the president of the Polish Football Association receives a coach "as an inheritance" from his predecessor was confirmed then. Fornalik was appointed by Lato and dismissed by Boniek.

Despite initial setbacks in friendly matches, Nawałka built a strong national team that advanced to Euro 2016 in France. There, it reached the quarter-finals, losing in a penalty shootout to the eventual winners, Portugal.

It is no wonder that Nawałka stayed in his position. He later led the team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but that tournament turned out to be a football flop.

After defeats of 1:2 to Senegal and 0:3 to Colombia, the Poles lost their chance to advance. At the end of the group stage, they defeated Japan 1:0, but the match went down in history mainly because of the last minutes, when the Japanese – who were awarded a place in the knockout stage by such a defeat – passed the ball between themselves.

After returning to Poland, Boniek and Nawałka met to discuss their future plans. Ultimately, it was decided that their paths would diverge, as the coach announced at a press conference on July 3, 2018.

"Every day of working with the national team was a beautiful adventure and a great experience. However, a certain stage has ended, a certain formula has been exhausted and with full responsibility I have decided to say goodbye to the national team," said Nawałka.

And Boniek added in a conversation with journalists: "To be honest, I think Adam made the right decision (...). He was the only coach who ended this job stronger when he left than when he arrived."

Jerzy Brzęczek has become the new coach. He advanced without any problems from a theoretically not very strong group to Euro 2020, but the tournament was delayed by a year due to the pandemic.

In the fall of 2020, Brzęczek kept the team in the highest division of the Nations League, but away defeats to the Netherlands 0:1 and Italy 0:2, in poor form, resulted in a wave of criticism of the team and the coach.

Despite this, Boniek's decision to change the coach was a surprise, and especially the timing of it — January 2021, i.e. five months before the delayed European Championships.

"During Brzęczek's term of office, apart from the sports problem, there were several other problems and in this situation the duty of the president of the Polish Football Association was not to be afraid to make a decision," Boniek admitted later.

Brzęczek's place was taken by Paulo Sousa in January 2021. During the first video press conferences, there was a lot of willingness, smiles and lofty words.

"I am honored and proud to be the coach of the Polish national team. Poland is a country of football and I am sure that your enthusiasm will give us strength, support, faith and together we will be able to fight in the European Championship," the Portuguese said in a video before he flew to Poland.

At the Euro, the White and Reds were eliminated after the group stage. They had won one point in three matches. In the opening match, they unexpectedly lost to Slovakia 1:2, then drew with Spain 1:1 and lost to Sweden 2:3.

Despite not advancing to the 1/8 finals, Boniek did not fire the Portuguese. Sousa still had a valid contract with the Polish Football Association, and the then head of the federation was ending his job because he could not run for a third term in a row. On August 18, 2021, Cezary Kulesza became the president of the association.

The end of Sousa's contract with the Polish Football Association depended on the Poles' results in the fight for promotion to the 2022 World Cup. The team finished second in the qualifying group, behind England, and played in the play-offs, so the coach's contract was automatically extended until then.

However, the Portuguese did not fulfill it, because at the end of December 2021 he informed Kulesza that he wanted to terminate the contract by mutual consent due to an offer from Flamengo Rio de Janeiro. As the president of the Polish Football Association admitted at the time, this was "extremely irresponsible behavior, inconsistent with the coach's previous declarations."

Sousa stood his ground, parted ways with the national team and flew to Brazil to work. He didn’t stay there long, and is currently working — with good results — at a club in the United Arab Emirates (Shabab Al Ahli).

His place in the Polish national team was taken by the "fire" specialist Czesław Michniewicz. He quickly got to work and achieved all the goals set for him. First - in March 2022 - he qualified for the World Cup. He did not have to play in the play-off semi-finals after Russia was excluded, and in the final of this "path" he won 2-0 in Chorzów against Sweden.

He also kept the team in the highest division of the Nations League, which was later important in the fight for promotion to Euro 2024 in the play-offs.

At the World Cup in Qatar, Poland advanced from the group stage and lost to France 1:3 in the 1/8 finals. However, the defensive style of the Polish national team in the group stage, in which they drew 0:0 with Mexico, won 2:0 with Saudi Arabia and lost 2:0 to Argentina, raised many doubts.

Michniewicz was even more disadvantaged by the so-called bonus scandal and — as widely reported by the media — misunderstandings within the team regarding the division of a possible financial reward.

Michniewicz denied the journalists' information, but reports of a poor atmosphere in and around the squad have seriously damaged the image of the national team, which was not the best in previous years anyway.

Kulesza decided to choose a coach with a name and great successes to calm the outraged public opinion. Not all available coaches were eager to work in the Polish Football Association. Ultimately, the choice fell on Fernando Santos, who won the European Championship (2016) and the Nations League (2019) with the Portuguese national team, and previously coached the Greeks.

"It was a difficult choice, but we chose the best possible coach," Kulesza emphasized on January 24, 2023, officially introducing Santos at a conference.

The end of such a promising story came exceptionally quickly. Three defeats in five matches in the theoretically easy group of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, including away 2:3 with Moldova and 0:2 with Albania, as well as, among other things, the lack of progress in the national team's game, meant that in September 2023 the PZPN authorities parted ways with the experienced Portuguese.

That same month, Kulesza chose Michał Probierz, whom he knew from their time working together at Jagiellonia Białystok, and later – during his term at the Polish Football Association – appointed him coach of the under-21 national team.

As a coach of the "adult" team, Probierz made his debut on October 12, 2023 in the European Championship qualifier against the Faroe Islands in Thorshavn.

He won 2-0, but things got worse later. Draws in Warsaw 1-1 with Moldova and the Czech Republic meant that he did not save the disastrous Euro 2024 qualifiers. However, thanks to, among other things, previous appearances in the Nations League, the white and reds had the right to play in the two-stage play-offs. In the final of their path, they defeated the Welsh.

Source of information: Polish Press Agency