Coach Josef Hickersberger has told Austria to throw caution to the wind against Poland in a Group B game on Thursday that will leave the loser perilously close to a Euro 2008 exit. Austria went down fighting in a 1-0 loss to Croatia in Vienna, while Poland was outclassed by tournament favorite Germany in a 2-0 defeat at Klagenfurt in Sunday's matches. The co-host improved in the second half against Croatia but only looked really dangerous when it surged forward in the final 20 minutes, exposing itself at the back. “It is clear to me that this is a decisive game, but it is the same for Poland,” Hickersberger told a news conference on Tuesday. “Now it is all or nothing. We must beat them. We must take risks from the start.” Looking back at his side's spirited display, he added: “In the second half we played very well. We gave a performance against an opponent like Croatia which months ago, weeks ago even, I would not have expected from my team.” They can again count on plenty of vocal home support at the Ernst Happel stadium, while Roland Linz and defender Emanuel Pogatetz are both fit to play after minor injuries. Poland needs to overcome the loss of captain Maciej Zurawski, whose stay in the group stage ended at halftime on Sunday after suffering a thigh injury. The midfielder might be fit for later, should the Poles reach the last eight, though his team will clearly need to step up a gear after losing. Poland looked a pale shadow of the side which secured its place at the Finals as group winners and there are unlikely to be sweeping changes in the lineup. Forward Ebi Smolarek, who scored nine times in qualifying and had a goal narrowly disallowed for offside against Germany, should again provide the Poles' main threat down the middle. Smolarek told reporters: “We have to play Austria next and we must win that game if we are to have any chance.” Winger Wojciech Lobodzinski made some good runs down the right and Roger Guerreiro, a Brazilian-born midfielder who only received Polish nationality in April, should also get another chance after replacing Zurawski for the second half. Jakub Wawrzyniak is likely to replace Pawel Golanski at left back after the latter struggled against the Germans and was at fault for at least one of the goals. – Reuters __
