FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - World Cup - European Qualifiers - Group G - Poland v Malta - Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland - March 24, 2025 Poland's Robert Lewandowski during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File photo
(Reuters) -Poland striker Robert Lewandowski said his trust had been betrayed and he was very hurt by the way coach Michal Probierz told him he was being replaced as team captain.
The country's record goalscorer immediately announced on social media that he would not play for the national team under Probierz who made the decision to appoint midfielder Piotr Zielinski as captain.
Lewandowski told news website wp.pl on Monday that he received a short call from Probierz as he was putting his children to sleep and that a statement about him losing the captaincy soon appeared on the Polish football federation (PZPN) website.
"I wore the armband for 11 years, and I've been playing in the national team for 17," Lewandowski was quoted as saying.
"It seemed to me that such matters should be handled differently... we have an important match ahead of us, and everything was communicated over the phone. This is really not how it should be. The coach betrayed my trust."
Lewandowski said the national team had always been the most important thing for him and that he was "very hurt" by the way the decision to strip him of the armband was communicated.
Probierz told a news conference that he thought delivering the news by phone was "natural".
"Robert's answer was that the captain's armband means nothing and it won't change anything," Probierz said. "From his perspective it may not change anything, but from mine I think it changes a lot."
Zielinski declined to comment on Lewandowski's decision, but said it was a great honour to receive the captain's armband.
Lewandowski is not in the current Poland squad, citing physical and mental exhaustion after a long season as the reason for his absence.
The 36-year-old, who has scored 85 goals for his country in a record 158 appearances,had held the captaincy since 2014.
Probierz replaced the sacked Fernando Santos as Poland manager in 2023, taking them to Euro 2024 where his side were the first team to be eliminated.
Poland defeated Moldova 2-0 in a friendly on Friday and are away to Finland in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes and Alan Charlish; Editing by Ed Osmond)
