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Exactly since 31 December, the Polish national team has been without a head coach. That is when the contract of former selector Czesław Michniewicz expired. The name of his successor may be known later this month.
Coach Michniewicz’s term of office informally ended on 22 December. It was then that the Polish Football Association (PZPN) issued a communiqué and announced that it would not extend the contract with the 52-year-old. Officially, the Polish national team has been without a head coach since 1 January.
The Polish Football Association announces that Czesław Michniewicz will stand down as head coach of the Polish national team as of 31 December 2022 "On behalf of the management board of PZPN, we would like to sincerely thank Czesław Michniewicz for his 11 months as head coach. As we know, the coach took over the team at a very difficult time. Despite these circumstances, he managed to secure qualification for the World Cup and also maintained the team's place in the Nations League elite. He also led the national team to its first qualification to the knockout stage of the World Cup in 36 years. For this, Czesław Michniewicz deserves our gratitude," PZPN president Cezary Kulesza said. "We want the national team to be led in the Euro qualifiers by a coach who guarantees its development and the achievement of its goals. The new head coach must also improve the image of the national team and rebuild the trust of the fans. Our choice must be well thought out, so we will not declare specific dates for the presentation of the head coach. At the same time, we assure you that the selection of a new coach is a priority for the management board of PZPN," president Cezary Kulesza stressed.
However, the search began much earlier. PZPN received dozens of offers from mainly foreign coaches. Some were automatically rejected; others were given quite a lot of thought by President Cezary Kulesza.
More and more people are asking themselves who can become the new selector of the Polish national team. Reading and watching interviews, the most frequent names from Poland are Marek Papszun and Jan Urban, while from abroad there is Croatian football coach Nenad Bjelica.
According to TVP Sport, the key date could be 12 January, when a meeting between PZPN president Kulesza and the presidents of provincial football associations is scheduled.