Poland edged out a plucky All Whites combination 1-0 in front of 30,412 fans at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow on October 9, as Darren Bazeley's charges continued their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals with another friendly encounter against European opposition. It was another encouraging display by the New Zealanders, although it was the Poles who had the better of the early exchanges in this tussle, captain Piotr Zielinksi rattling the near post side-netting in the ninth minute after picking the pocket of Matt Garbett. The All Whites responded straight away, Alex Paulsen's raking goal kick allowing Callum McCowatt to burst through on the right and draw a solid near post save from starting goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski, who was replaced at half-time by former Liverpool reserves custodian Kamil Grabara. Back came Jan Urban's charges, Kacper Kozlowski making inroads on the left before picking out Michal Skoras, whose twenty-yarder flew narrowly past Paulsen's right-hand post. Another Polish attack, in the sixteenth minute, saw Sebastian Szymanski start and finish an attack which was ultimately thwarted by Garbett's timely block. The All Whites looked to counter-attack, but Tim Payne was caught in possession by Skoras, a challenge which created an opening for Krysztof Piatek, one which very swiftly shut down by All Whites captain Michael Boxall. After weathering this early storm, Darren Bazeley's team grew into the contest, and came into their own after the first twenty minutes. Marko Stamenic's raking ball forward found McCowatt on the charge again. The retreating figure of Tomasz Kedziora denied him, but the ball broke for Ryan Thomas, who invited Ben Waine to let fly from the edge of the penalty area, a 21st minute shot which was tipped over the bar by Dragowski. Three minutes later, a Payne free-kick wasn't cleared, prompting Garbett to pull the trigger on two occasions. Both shots were blocked, while soon afterwards, Waine was harshly deemed to have fouled Jan Ziolkowski as he looked to latch onto a stray back-pass brought about by the pressure applied by Singh and McCowatt on the right. Poland continued to rebuff their rivals, who are well suited to taking the game to their opponents on the road, where the onus is on the home side to satisfy the masses. It wasn't until five minutes before half-time that the Poles next threatened, with Paulsen pulling off a fine double-save to frustrate both Skoras and Szymanski. The All Whites concluded the half in the ascendancy, with Thomas latching onto a poor clearance before finding Waine, whose lay-off invited Garbett to unleash a twenty-yarder which swerved past the far post. One suspects Polish international and now coach Urban, who played alongside the legendary Zbigniew Boniek on national team duty, wasn't best pleased with his charges' first half efforts, as four substitutes were introduced for the second spell, two of whom were soon playing a significant part in changing the game. Poland began the half strongly, and were rewarded in the 49th minute by the opening goal. 'Twas a super move which saw the deadlock broken,

Grabara beginning it by bringing fellow substitute Jakub Kiwior - with a name like that, he should be playing for New Zealand! - into play on the left. He swiftly linked with Skoras and Zielinski before feeding Kozlowski, whose super back-heeled pass ignited the raid. Jakub Piotrowski was the beneficiary of that deft touch, and turned the ball inside to Zielinski, who promptly swept the ball across field to another of the half-time replacements, Pawel Wszolek. He immediately made a bee-line for goal, and tore into the penalty area before pulling the ball back to its edge, where Zielinski, who had continued his run, was arriving on cue. A deft turn to side-step Singh was followed by an unerring fifteen yard drive which flew over Paulsen's dive before crashing down off the underside of the bar and over the line. Soon after, Garbett blocked another shot, this time from Skoras, after which the All Whites looked to restore parity. A concerted attack just before the hour mark saw Francis de Vries and Garbett combine for the benefit of Singh, whose dipping twenty-yarder landed on the roof of the net. Garbett and Karol Swiderski exchanged shots on goal inside the next six minutes, with the Kiwi drawing a save from Grabara, while the Pole's effort flew narrowly past the far post. Ziolkowski's timely challenge prevented Waine from capitalising on McCowatt's pass in the 67th minute, to which Poland responded with a counter-attack which culminated in Payne conceding a corner with two opponents breathing down his neck as both looked to capitalise on Wszolek's cross through the corridor of uncertainty. A vital headed clearance by Finn Surman prevented a tantalising Bartosz Kapustka cross from finding its intended target in the 69th minute, while Paulsen denied a tame shot from Piatek as the hosts looked to double their lead. Twelve minutes from time, Piotrowski wasn't far away from finding the top near corner following Swiderski's corner to the near post, to which the All Whites responded via Singh, whose deft footwork accounted for two opponents, only for McCowatt to fail to read his team-mate's pass when an equaliser appeared imminent. The visitors continued to press for an equaliser in the last ten minutes. Debutant Owen Parker-Price - All White #646 - picked out fellow substitute Chris Wood with a free-kick which the striker laid off to Stamenic. His shot was deflected wide, while from Singh's resulting corner, Bill Tuiloma sent a header bulleting past the near post. Stamenic threatened again after linking with Ben Old soon after, but Poland managed to hold on for a hard-earned win against a team they'll be hoping to join at next year's FIFA World Cup Finals - they're in a battle with Holland and Finland to advance past the group stage at present. Poland:     Dragowski (Grabara, 46); Kedziora, Wisniewski (Kiwior, 46), Ziolkowski; Frankowski (Wszolek, 46), Piotrowski, Ziekinski (Kapustka, 63), Skoras (Pyrka, 73); Kozlowski, Piatek (booked, 23), Szymanski (Swiderski, 46) All Whites:     Paulsen; Payne (Tuiloma, 82), Surman, Boxall (booked, 34), de Vries (Kelly-Heald, 82); Stamenic (booked, 54), Singh, Thomas (Parker-Price, 82); McCowatt (Wood, 84), Waine (de Jong, 72), Garbett (booked, 61 (Old, 72)) Referee:     Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)