Poland have crashed out of the European championships after losing 2-3 to Sweden in their final group-stage game on Wednesday.
Zbigniew Boniek, head of the Polish Football Association (PZPN), told reporters the next day that he would not fire Sousa even though the national squad's early exit from the tournament left many fans heartbroken.
"Paulo Sousa is a very good coach" who inspires the players and knows how to "pull the team together," Boniek said at a news conference in the Baltic city of Gdańsk on Thursday.
He added that the Portuguese "has a great deal of coaching experience and knows what the Polish team needs."
He also voiced hope that the Poles would qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar under Sousa.
"The Polish national team deserves to play at major international events," Boniek declared.
Sousa, who hails from Portugal, was named the manager of the Polish team in January. He replaced Pole Jerzy Brzęczek after Boniek complained of a “sense of malaise" among players ahead of the European competition and World Cup qualifiers.
Another early exit
The Poles fought hard against Sweden at Krestovsky Stadium in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Wednesday but suffered an early exit from the European tournament after a disappointing 2018 World Cup in Russia.
They ended up being one of eight teams that were knocked out of the 24-team Euro 2020 tournament after the group stage.
Poland, captained by star striker Robert Lewandowski, FIFA's world player of the year for 2020, finished last in their Group E and failed to advance to the tournament's last 16, with just one point from three group-stage games.
Captain Robert Lewandowski (centre) scored twice for Poland against Sweden on Wednesday, but that was not enough to keep the team in the tournament. Photo: EPA/Anatoly Maltsev
Sweden finished at the top of the group, with seven points, ahead of Spain with five points and Slovakia in third place with three.
The Poles lost 1-2 to lower-ranked Slovakia in their opening game at Euro 2020 and then drew 1-1 against Spain in their second fixture.
PM praises squad for 'showing ambition'
Poland’s prime minister has praised his country’s football team for "showing ambition and fighting to the end” at the Euro 2020 tournament.
'We deserved much more': Poland coach
After Sweden sent Poland packing from the tournament on Wednesday, Sousa told reporters his men lost in large part because they showed a lack of concentration and conceded too many "silly” goals.
Sousa also said he believed Poland deserved more from the tournament.
“In the end, we deserved much more than what we got, and hopefully in the future we can achieve better results,” Sousa said, as quoted by the Reuters news agency.
Paulo Sousa during the game against Sweden. Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa
Setting sights on Qatar
Poland in late March lost 1-2 to England in their third 2022 World Cup qualifier in London.
The Polish team opened its World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-3 away draw with Hungary in Budapest on March 25.
The Poles then beat Andorra 3-0 in their second World Cup qualifier at home on March 28.
They will now take on Albania in their next World Cup qualifying fixture at home on September 2.
(gs/pk)
Source: TVP Sport, IAR, PAP, Reuters