Buksa to lead Polish attack in place of Lewandowski against Dutch

HAMBURG, Germany : Unheralded Adam Buksa has been entrusted with leading Poland’s attack in the absence of talisman Robert Lewandowski as they take on the Netherlands on Sunday in the opening Group D clash at the European Championship in Germany.

The 27-year-old Buksa has six goals in 18 appearances and has some tough boots to fill after Lewandowski, with 82 goals in 150 appearances for Poland, went off with a right thigh injury against Turkey in a friendly last Monday.

Kacper Urbanski, 19, makes his first start for Poland on the attacking flank after only two appearances as a substitute, having won his first cap in the warm-up friendlies earlier this month.

The Dutch, hit by injuries in the midfield, will have the relatively inexperienced Tijjani Reijnders in a playmaking role with Joey Veerman behind him in the centre of their line-up but there were no surprises in coach Ronald Koeman’s selection.

Teams

Poland: Wojciech Szczęsny, Bartosz Salamon, Jan Bednarek, Piotr Zielinski (C), Taras Romanczuk, Jakub Kiwior, Adam Buksa, Przemysław Frankowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Nicola Zalewski, Kacper Urbanski.

Netherlands: Bart Verbruggen, Virgil van Dijk (C), Nathan Ake, Stefan De Vrij, Xavi Simons, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo, Tijjani Reijnders, Joey Veerman, Denzel Dumfries, Jerdy Schouten.