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.”
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over