Southampton: Bednarek and Poland dumped out of World Cup

Southampton defender Jan Bednarek played the full game in Poland’s 3-0 defeat to Colombia at the World Cup; a result that dumped them out of the tournament.

Bednarek was included in his country’s squad for the tournament after a strong spell of form for Southampton at the end of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign and has been involved in both group-stage matches so far.

However, two losses to Senegal and Colombia respectively have seen it become impossible for them to now qualify for the knockout stages.

45 minutes in the first game and a full 90 today came for Bednarek and he operated from the centre of a three man central defence, and both matches proved a challenge for him and his teammates.

Despite this, the 22-year-old was given the captains armband for today’s clash and was perhaps that best performing defender for Poland.

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He contributed defensively with two interceptions, six clearances and three blocked shots. He also won two aerial duels and completed 83.9% of his passes (stats according to whoscored.com).

Maya Yoshida’s Japan drew with Senegal this afternoon and the result cemented their place in the top two of Group H. It is still possible for three teams to progress to the knockout stages though and the final group matches will decided each team’s fate.

Bednarek joined the Saints at the beginning of last season in a £5m transfer from Lech Poznan and had to wait for a sustained spell in the first-team. Eight senior appearances and one goal came and he ended up with a consistent place in the 11 under Mark Hughes.

He will now hope to be involved in their final game at the tournament before having an extended holiday to recover from the season.

He will then join up with his Saints teammates for pre-season slightly earlier than the other World Cup participants at the club if they manage to progress further in the competition.

Defensive reinforcements are needed in the Saints squad this summer and may provide more competition for Bednarek to fight for a place with, but he certainly hasn’t done his chances any harm with his 2017/18 showings.