Only 90 minutes may remain for Poland at their first UEFA European Championship so it is understandable when forward Marek Saganowski says they are desperate to deliver against Croatia in Klagenfurt.

Motivated
Leo Beenhakker’s side may have topped a qualifying group including Portugal and Serbia but they have struggled to repeat that form in the finals. After losing to Germany and drawing with Austria, the White and Reds go into Monday’s Group B finale needing both a win against the Croatians, and a favourable result in the other match in Vienna, to progress. “We have a hard game ahead but motivation won’t be a problem,” said the 29-year-old. “We play for ourselves, our families and our fans. We play for Poland so motivation is not a problem.

Uncertain fate
“Of course our situation is not great, because even if we win we’re not sure of making the quarter-finals,” he added. “We have to wait for the news from Vienna and that news has to be positive. We will try to play the best we can against Croatia. We want to win for ourselves and for our fans, then we’ll see what happens. But it is not all up to us, not completely in our hands. We accept that the Austria-Germany game will be just as important.

Out to impress
“It’s good for us that Croatia have already qualified,” continued the Southampton FC striker. “Their players know they’ll go into the quarter-finals and they will be a little less motivated. However, the players they bring in will be highly motivated because they will want to impress their coach and make it clear that they are good enough to be in the team for the quarter-finals.”

Form dipped
The question taxing observers in Poland has been why the team’s form, so impressive in qualifying, has dipped in Austria. “I don’t know why we haven’t played as we can,” said Saganowski. “You could say injuries have been a problem, like the one that ruled out [Jakub] ‘Kuba’ Błaszczykowski who had been our right-winger. Also, a lot of our players weren’t playing at the end of the season for their clubs. The fitness wasn’t quite there in our first match. But in the second half of our game against Austria. we showed we can play and deserve to be here.

High standard
“Things would have been different if we’d played as we did in qualifying, especially against Germany. But at the European Championship the best teams are there and the standard is much higher. By Monday night we may be out of the tournament but if that does happen, nothing will change. We’ll continue to work on being better players, on being a better team.”

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.”

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.”