Robert Lewandowski will lead Maja Mecan onto the pitch before Poland’s Tuesday match against Ukraine, turning a routine pre-match walkout into a moment built around one child’s dream. The Poland captain will also meet children supported by the Cancer Fighters foundation during the team’s June camp in Wrocław.
For Mecan, the walkout is the kind of stadium moment that stays with a child long after the final whistle. Other children supported by the foundation will be in the stands, and after the meeting the players plan to come over for souvenir photos, adding a personal finish to a day that has already been framed as a gift for young patients and their families.
Lewandowski’s role follows a live appearance during Łatwogang’s record stream, where the creator raised money for children with oncological illnesses. He backed a collection for the Cancer Fighters foundation and promised he would meet the foundation’s children during the June national team camp, a promise that was kept on the first day of the squad’s stay in Wrocław, when youngsters met players at the Monopol hotel before the press conference.
The foundation said on social media that Lewandowski, Łatwogang and Bedoes met its charges, and described the visit as something that would lift their spirits and give them a huge burst of positive energy. That charity setting, though, sits alongside a more sombre thread on Tuesday night: Poland will also honor Jacek Magiera, who died on 10 April, with a minute of applause before kickoff, a symbolic empty seat on the bench and his wife, children and brother in the stands.
The match therefore carries two moods at once, celebration and remembrance. Bedoes’ song “Ciągle tutaj jestem (diss na raka),” recorded with Maja, was part of the wider charity effort around Cancer Fighters, but the evening in Wrocław will also serve as a public tribute to Magiera, who is described as the national team’s second coach. For Poland, Tuesday is not only about beating Ukraine; it is also about giving one child her walkout moment and marking the loss of a man who helped shape the team.
