Poland star Robert Lewandowski points to Respect sign on sleeve as England stars are booed for taking knee

ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI pointed to the Respect sign on his Poland shirt while taking the knee before their draw with England.

The Polish captain’s gesture was met by a large section of his side’s supporters booing the taking of the knee as they made their feelings heard.

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The England players remain defiant in their taking of the knee – and were booed in Poland[/caption]

Nevertheless, it was a powerful message from Lewandowski as the Three Lions were forced to deal with the booing of the knee for the second time in less than a week.

Gareth Southgate’s side were also jeered six days ago in Hungary while performing the anti-racism gesture.

England had discussed the issue in the build-up to the Hungary clash after Republic of Ireland players were loudly booed in June when they took a knee prior to a friendly.

Undeterred, they continued to take the knee amid the loud jeers, and once again they were booed tonight prior to the game against Poland in Warsaw.

That came moments after ‘God Save The Queen’ was firstly met by whistling from the raucous 60,000-plus crowd, only for that to be then drowned out with applause.

The game finished 1-1 as England captain Harry Kane’s long-range strike was cancelled out in stoppage time by Damian Szymanski.

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Lewandowski played a key role in levelling things up in the dying seconds as he crossed for teammate Szymanski to head home from close range.

Poland’s players previously refused to take the knee against England at Wembley in the reverse qualifying clash back in March.

Zbigniew Boniek, the head of the Polosh FA and a Uefa vice-president, has also been a vocal critic of what he referred to as a ‘populist’ gesture.

After his players stood rather than kneel against the Three Lions in the Spring, he said: “This is clear populism because nothing is done because of it.

“Footballers sometimes kneel and if you’d ask some of them why they’re kneeling, they wouldn’t even be able to tell you why.”

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