Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny admitted that he would have retired from the Poland national team had they missed out on qualification for Euro 2024 this summer, following his penalty shoot-out heroics against Wales on Tuesday night.
Szczesny saved the crucial penalty from former Manchester United winger Dan James in Cardiff on Tuesday night, which was enough to send Poland through to the Euros in Germany this summer. The two nations had been level at 0-0 after 120 minutes of action.
Asked by beIN Sports whether the game against Wales would have been his last had Poland not won, Szczesny replied adamantly: “Oh it would have been, yes.”
Szczesny, who has been capped 81 times by Poland, is now set to feature in his fourth consecutive Euros, having also been called up for previous editions in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
The Juventus shot-stopper also provided an insight into his preparation for penalty shoot-outs.
“There’s no psychology, I analysed the penalty takers, which made no difference, because they all started shooting down the middle and none of them really did before.
“It’s about pressure for the players rather than for the goalkeeper, once the decisive penalty comes and you know it’s a big pressure penalty, the pressure’s on, I think it was (Dan) James at that point.”
Poland beat Wales 5-4 on penalties, with nine consecutive kicks hitting the back of the net before Szczesny kept James out.
“I feel sorry for him, but I was quite confident about saving it because it’s a big penalty, you don’t want to miss it, you just want to hit the target, so he went for the easiest option and I just guessed right, it was just a bit of luck.”
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