Krychowiak targets Germany scalp

Poland midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak is undaunted at the prospect of facing Germany at Euro 2016 following their 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in Sunday’s Group C opener.

A single Arkadiusz Milik strike after the break was enough to earn the full three points and Krychowiak is eyeing a scalp when they take on the reigning world champions on Thursday.

“It will be a tough match against Germany, just like it was a tough match today,” the Sevilla star said at a news conference after being voted man of the match.

“We played against them before and know them very well. We will prepare in a positive mood win following this win. We want to get three points again.

“Germany are favourites and we have huge respect, but we won’t change our aim. We want victory. We are only thinking about Germany, who are a very demanding rival. There are no easy games. We must fight and run hard to earn victory.”

Krychowiak is not getting carried away despite a dominant performance against Northern Ireland, adding: “We understood that the first match would be very important and difficult. But we were prepared. This is only the beginning. We will show we can get even better.

“I think we can do a lot, but we cannot be overly optimistic. We are taking things one step at a time and respect our rivals. Every game will be a battle.

“This team is very experienced. We know it’s only one game. We cannot be satisfied yet. We have to show our class every game.”

Robert Lewandowski struggled to make an impact but Krychowiak was keen to stress that the victory was a team display.

“The whole team deserves this man-of-the-match award. We’re here thanks to the whole team. We have shown that in the qualifiers,” he said.

“We are all thinking about the collective. We are a team and that is important. We will not win as individuals. Everyone is important, not just Lewandowski.”