Wisła Kraków marks 120th anniversary with 0-0 draw against Wrexham as Sanchez wastes a penalty and hits the post

Anniversary celebration

Wisła Kraków welcomed Wrexham AFC to the Reymonta stadium on Saturday for a friendly that formed the main event of the club's 120th anniversary. Founded in 1906, Wisła is a 13-time Polish champion, while Wrexham, established in 1864, is the third oldest professional football club in the world and the oldest in Wales.

Mieliśmy bardzo długą kolację na Zamku Królewskim, podzieliliśmy się tam swoimi doświadczeniami.

The stands held nearly 23,000 spectators, with a contingent of roughly 2,000 travelling from Wales. Former Wisła stars attended, led by legendary coach Henryk Kasperczak. The players wore specially designed shirts for the occasion, and the pre-match programme featured a brass-band rendition of the club anthem alongside soldiers rappelling from the stadium roof.

On the pitch

Wisła created the clearer chances and might have taken the lead as early as the fifth minute. A long pass from James Igbekeme sent Jordi Sanchez through one-on-one with goalkeeper Danny Ward, but the Spaniard's shot beat the keeper and struck the post.

In the 28th minute, Jakub Krzyżanowski pressed high, won possession, and fed Sanchez again; this time the forward's effort was on target but too weak to trouble Ward. Wrexham's best moment of the first half fell to Kieffer Moore in the 20th minute, when Marcel Łubik was forced into a save. Both sides used two entirely different line-ups across the two halves, a typical pattern for a pre-season friendly.

Bardzo się cieszę, że mieliśmy możliwość zmierzyć się z takim rywalem, który jest na bardzo dobrym poziomie, jeżeli chodzi o motorykę, ale też umiejętności indywidualne piłkarzy.

Penalty miss

The decisive moment of a goalless afternoon arrived in the 63rd minute. Frederico Duarte was fouled inside the Wrexham penalty area and referee Sebastian Krasny pointed to the spot. Sanchez stepped up but his shot proved too central and too readable; Wrexham's second-half goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo pushed it away.

Sanchez had already squandered a volley from Maciej Kuziemka's cross early in the second period. When he was substituted in the 73rd minute, the home crowd chanted his name in support.

To prawda, pod względem skuteczności to nie był jego dzień. Natomiast najważniejsze jest to, żeby napastnik potrafił znaleźć się w sytuacjach, w których może zdobyć gola i Jordi miał takich sytuacji trzy, cztery.

Preparation and signings

The match was Wisła's latest test ahead of their return to the Ekstraklasa. Coach Mariusz Jop noted that two weeks remain before the league opener against GKS Katowice on 26 July. Three players were unavailable: Angel Rodado, recovering from end-of-season surgery, plus Julius Erthaler and Darijo Grujcić, neither of whom is yet training at full load.

On Friday the club finalised the signing of French winger Elie Youan, formerly of Hibernian. President Jarosław Królewski told reporters that a new striker is expected to arrive in the coming week. Wrexham, valued several times higher than Wisła and coming off a Championship campaign in which they narrowly missed the promotion play-offs, provided what Jop described as a high-level motor and technical challenge.

Broader meetings

Kraków's club hierarchy hosted their Wrexham counterparts for a long dinner at the Royal Castle on the Wawel hill the evening before the match. Królewski spoke of a friendly chemistry between the two organisations, noting that both clubs had navigated deep financial crises (Wisła via a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign in 2019, Wrexham through the Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney takeover documented in the Disney+ series "Welcome to Wrexham") and are now building for the future.

Cieszymy się z meczu z Wrexham, choć nigdy nie jestem zadowolony jak nie wygrywamy. Frekwencja dopisała, spotkanie momentami stało na dobrym poziomie. Ważne, że po obu stronach nie było kontuzji.