Golf balls with the Polish logo – Michal Probierz has present for Rob Page

Poland manager Michal Probierz has promised Wales counterpart Rob Page a gift before their Euro 2024 play-off final.

Probierz says he has taken up golf to relieve the stress of football management and spoke to Page at the Nations League draw in Paris last month.

“I spoke to the Wales manager and I have a gift for him,” Probierz said at his pre-match press conference in Cardiff.

“It is golf balls with the Polish logo on and I will give them to him before the match.”

Probierz managed a dozen clubs in his career before being promoted from his position as Poland Under-21 boss last September.

The 51-year-old succeeded former Portugal manager Fernando Santos, who was sacked after fans demanded his dismissal following Euro 2024 qualifying defeats to Moldova and Albania.

Unbeaten

Poland are unbeaten in Probierz’s five games in charge, but home draws against Moldova and the Czech Republic at the end of the qualifying campaign condemned them to the play-offs.

Probierz’s side booked their place in Cardiff by thrashing Estonia 5-1 at home in the play-off semi-final on Thursday.

He said: “I am convinced that we are mentally strong and well prepared for this match.

“We made a large selection and have observed many players and this game will be a summary of our six-month work.

“During the first two training camps many players did not play and many were injured.

“But we have worked on building a team to be dominant and keep the ball.

“The problem we had before was that we were not converting chances.

“If we had converted those chances against the Czech Republic we would not be here.”

Experience

Captain Robert Lewandowski, the 35-year-old Barcelona striker, is the stand-out name in the Poland squad.

But there is plenty of experience elsewhere, including Juventus’ former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, Southampton defender Jan Bednarek and Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski.

Bednarek played in Poland’s last visit to the Cardiff City Stadium, a feisty 1-0 Nations League victory 18 months ago.

He said: “I remember this match well. Wojciech played a very good match, we kept a clean sheet and scored a nice goal.

“It was a British-style physical game of football, but this is another game. It is an all-or-nothing game.

“They have lots of young players with speed and quality, players like (Daniel) James and (David) Brooks.

“They are good in counter-attack and will use that, but I believe we will win if we can show our strengths.”