European Football Cup 2008’s Weblog

Striker Marek Saganowski says coach Leo Beenhakker has a battle on his hands to raise Poland’s players for their Group B finale against Croatia after a disappointing finish against Austria.

Bleak
Poland endured serious pressure from Austria in the first 20 minutes in Vienna, with goalkeeper Artur Boruc making a number of saves to deny Josef Hickersberger’s side, before the game turned in Poland’s favour when Roger Guerreiro scored on 30 minutes. However, a stoppage-time penalty from Ivica Vastic earned the co-hosts a 1-1 draw and Poland now have a major battle on their hands to make the last 16. Leo Beenhakker’s team have one group match left, against Croatia in Klagenfurt on Monday, but Southampton FC forward Saganowski admits the mood in the camp is bleak.

Low morale
“It will be very hard to lift morale and confidence after what’s happened,” Saganowski told euro2008.com. “It will be difficult to make the quarter-finals now. We have to play Croatia and they will be high on confidence after beating Germany [2-1 to qualify for the quarter-finals as group winners]. It should be a good game but a very hard game for us. It is difficult to accept drawing a game this way. The UEFA European Championship is a big moment for the Polish nation and for the players who are here, and it’s a pity to finish the game with a penalty so late in the match. If Austria had scored in the first half when they had chances, it would have been fair enough, but it is hard to take when they score a goal in the way and at the time they did.”

In vain
The 29-year-old English-based attacker was one of three changes to the starting XI from Poland’s 2-0 opening defeat by Germany, and Saganowski contributed with the cross that set up Roger’s goal. “It was nice to play a part in the goal but it means nothing as we did not win,” he added. Poland captain Jacek Bąk sounded similarly disconsolate: “We drew the game and got a point but it feels like a defeat. We were in the lead for so long and were on our way to winning the game and giving ourselves a good chance of making the next stage, but now it’s going to be very difficult. We had a big chance to do well and go into the Croatia game with confidence, but now our confidence will be low and we have to work hard in training to get ready for Croatia.”