For a player of his immense ability, with an eye for goal you simply have to be born with and cannot develop through any form of coaching, to go so long without a World Cup goal is simply unfathomable.
Robert Lewandowski has enough golden boots and golden shoes to fill a closet, with 76 international strikes giving him a top 10 spot in the all-time goalscoring charts going into Poland’s crucial World Cup clash with Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Yet, somehow, not one of those goals had come at a World Cup. Not a single strike. And it weighed heavy on a man who makes goalscoring look like a walk in the park the rest of the time.
It appeared Lewandowski was in fact cursed as, when presented with the chance to score a World Cup goal that had been 34 years in the making from the penalty spot against Mexico in Poland’s tournament opener this week, he saw his spot kick saved.
He was presented with an equally gilt-edged chance to put Poland 2-0 up and seal a crucial victory over a boisterous Saudi team on Saturday, this time making no mistake. And the tears flowed.
“After I scored, everything I had inside - the dreams, the importance of the goal – all those dreams from my early childhood were fulfilled and it was so significant,” Lewandowski said. “You always want to score but this goal was so important.
“The older I get, the more emotional I get. I was aware that when it came to the World Cup, it may be my last World Cup and I wanted to underscore that I have scored a World Cup.”
It was a remarkable sight for such a blockbuster player to emerge from his jubilant teammates crying like that, especially given all the 34-year-old has achieved in his glittering career, but that is what a World Cup can do.
“When you play for the national squad you need to focus on the results and a bit of my identity wants to have a good result in the focus,” he added.
“This goal came true. We didn’t have that many opportunities during the first match, I missed my penalty.
“The pitch – it was different, I wanted to improve the traction. No big story behind it. As captain I’m so happy we played such a good game.”
And Lewandowski has Poland dreaming again, after it looked like Saudi Arabia, fresh from their heroics against Argentina, were going to continue their fairy tale story having created plenty of chances, including a first-half penalty against the Poles.
The Barcelona striker provided the assist for Piotr Zielinski’s opener, keeping a composed head when it mattered, before capitalising on Abdulelah Almalki’s error and slotting home that long, long overdue goal, ensuring he became the first Polish player to score and assist in a World Cup match since Janusz Kupcewicz in 1982.
Wojciech Szczesny deserves huge credit for helping secure his side the victory that puts them in a strong position to reach the knockout stages, after his brilliant penalty save in the first half, but the Juventus goalkeeper was fully aware who the day belonged to.
“It is nice that he scored his first goal, he could have had a couple more,” Szczesny said. “We fully expect him to carry on scoring more next game.
“I didn’t become a goalkeeper to grab the headlines, I am happy to be in the shadow of him.”
