EURO 2008 Preview: Austria vs. Poland

الخميس، 12 يونيو 2008 - 12:53

كتب : Omar AbdelAziz

Austria out to make up for Croatia defeat

Co-Hosts Austria are in a make-or-break mission when they take on Poland in Vienna.

Both teams are deemed as Group B outsiders after suffering defeats in the first game, but the Josef Hickersberger is optimistic that his low-rank side can progress.

On the other hand, Poland boss Leo Beenhakker believes that his side is similar to the opposition in terms of quality of players.

Head-to-head:

Austria win: 3

Poland win: 4

Draw: 0

Austria

"In Austria we are realistic. We know the international position we currently hold," said Hickersberger.

Nevertheless we set ourselves ambitious goals and as long as we can still reach those goals we will believe in our chances. For Poland it is a different situation – they have to meet higher expectations."

Team News: Roland Linz picked up an injury against Croatia, but should be fit to start upfront.

Probable Line-up: Macho- Stranzl, Prodl, Gercaliu, Pogatetz- Ivanschitz, Aufhauser, Korkmaz, Vastic- Linz, Harnik.

Poland

"Many times in tournaments we've seen the host team playing at a much higher level based on the atmosphere around the team and among the people," said Beenhakker.

"The two teams are very similar in that the strongest element is the team itself.

"Neither of us have a (Thierry) Henry or a (Ruud) van Nistelrooy, players who can make the difference in a game, but that doesn't mean we don't have good players."

Team News: The Poles will miss captain Maciej Zurawski, who has a thigh strain and could miss the rest of the tournament.

Probable Line-up: Boruc- Wasilewski, Wawrzyniak, Bak, Zewlakow- Lewandowski, Dudka, Krzynowek, Guerreiro, Lobodzinski- Smolarek.

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