Lewandowski wants fearless Poles

Robert Lewandowski says Poland must be fearless when they meet Germany in Euro 2016 on Thursday in Saint-Denis.

Both sides enjoyed successful starts to their campaigns on Sunday, with the Poles beating Northern Ireland 1-0 while the world champions defeated Ukraine 2-0.

It means the game at the Stade de France could decide who tops Group C and these teams know each other well having qualified from the same section.

The Poles recorded their first ever victory over Die Mannschaft in October 2014 but Joachim Low’s men got their revenge 11 months later. Lewandowski is one of three members of the Bialo-czerwoni’s squad to play his club football in Germany, starring first for Borussia Dortmund and now Bayern Munich.

The Polish captain admits his country’s neighbours are one of the favourites for the tournament outright and although he says they deserve plenty of respect, the 27-year-old has called on his troops to rise to the challenge of facing the world champions. Lewandowski told Die Welt: “It will be a special game against Germany. We know each other very well.

We met twice in the qualifiers and Germany are the favourites for me, not just on Thursday but also to win the tournament. They can go all the way. “We know how strong Germany are. But we will fight. Everything is possible in a tournament like this.

He added: “We have to stay calm and act confident. We must play without fear and don’t have any stress. We know it will be hard, but it’s only football and we must enjoy ourselves. We can do it if we approach the game like that.”

Poland are currently 5.50 to win Thursday’s game, with the draw 4.00 and Germany are the clear 1.60 favourites.