Poland and Austria are under pressure to finally record a win at the European Championship or be among the first to be eliminated from this year’s competition.
Appearing in the competition for the first time, both lost their first Group B matches.
“It’s all or nothing. We need a victory,” Austria coach Josef Hickersberger said. “So does Poland.”
PHOTO: AFP
Poland defender Michal Zewlakow took it a step further.
“We all know this is a match to stay alive,” he said. “It’s going to be a war.”
Unfortunately for Poland, injuries have left coach Leo Beenhakker without some of his best weapons up front. Captain Maciej Zurawski has been ruled out of at least the first round games after straining his right quadriceps in Poland’s 2-0 opening loss to Germany.
The striker’s injury further depletes a Polish attack already suffering from the absence of Jakub Blaszczykowski, out with a hamstring injury.
Despite their loss to Germany, the Poles have taken encouragement from their play in the opener, and fancy their chances against a team lacking star players.
“I think that if we play like we did at times against Germany, Austria won’t have any say,” midfielder Dariusz Dudka said.
But the Austrians also proved their mettle in their opening 1-0 loss to Croatia. For most of the second half, the tournament co-hosts outplayed a Croatian side considered a title contender.
“We are still optimistic. I see no team-mates who are down and out,” defender Martin Stranzl said. “We need three points against Poland now and everyone is fully aware of that.”
Hickersberger said his team “couldn’t live with one point,” but that doesn’t mean he plans to adopt a more attacking style than against Croatia.
Austria used a 3-5-2 system in the opener, but midfielders Ronald Gercaliu and Joachim Standfest played so defensively that the Austrians essentially had five players in their back line.
Hickersberger refused to say whether he would make changes to his tactics or lineup against Poland.
“We won’t play totally offensive, and I don’t expect Poland to do so,” Hickersberger said. “First we must avoid conceding a goal, then we must create and convert our scoring chances better than we did against Croatia.”
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