Euro 2008 PREVIEW: Group B, Austria vs Poland

Austria

vs

Poland

Thursday, June 12, 2045 CET
Vienna (Austria) - Travel to Vienna

THE BIG PICTURE

Two losers from the first round of matches meet. Poland and their madcap offside trap were no match for Germany, but Austria looked about ten times better than expected in the narrow loss to Croatia. A victory here would be the only way for either to maintain a realistic shot at qualification.

AUSTIA

Three Key Players:

Martin Harnik - looks Austria’s most lively forward vs Croatia

Andreas Ivanschitz - didn’t quite live to his billing in the first game

Sebastian Prodl - impressive young defender

Austria squad
Austria Team Profile

Visit j at the Austria Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

Buy Austria team gear here.

POLAND

Three Key Players:

Roger Guerreiroski - all that fuss about naturalizing the Brazilian and then they kept him on the bench for most of the game against Gemany. Roger and his left foot might see more action today

Jacek Bak - the 35 year old defender will need to organize his back line better, will also wear the armband after Maciej Zurawski’s injury

Ebi Smolarek - disappointing and ultimately withdrawn against Germany, but capable of much much more

Poland squad
Poland Team Profile

Visit Tomasz at the Poland Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

BIG BATTLES

Martin Harnik vs Polish offside trap - Harnik has the pace to cause Poland problems

Roger vs Rene Aufhauser - assuming Roger replaces the injured Zurwaski as Poland’s attacking mid, he’ll come up against Austria’s experienced defensive mid, who gave away that clumsy penalty to Croatia.

Ivica Vastic vs Father Time - 38 year old Vastic looked all class when he came off the bench in Austria’s opening game. He should be able to contribute more today.

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LIVEBLOG

Follow the Austria vs Poland LiveBlog here.