Today against Poland

First “final” for Austria: Get this win!

Today is Austria's first "final" at the European Championships.

(Bild: AFP)

Like a final! Austria's soccer stars face Poland today (6pm) at the Olympiastadion in Berlin - with a win, Red-White-Red would be on course for the EURO round of 16.

Final, showdown, game of truth - no matter what you call it, it all applies to Austria's second EURO group game in Berlin against Poland today.

After the defeat against France, things should go better today.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Because the starting position is clear and exciting:

• Win: then you are fully in the mix, you can set your sights on at least second place in the final group game against the Netherlands (25.6. in Berlin).
• Draw: Then a win against the Netherlands (today against France) is mandatory to have a chance of reaching the round of 16.
• Defeat: Could mean the knockout if the Netherlands score against France, if the French win, there would still be a chance in the last group game, second place would still be possible.

So as you can see: anything is possible, a jump to second place as well as an early end!

"Invest everything!"
Austria's fans are hopeful, convinced that it will work out today, with 80 percent betting on a win against the Poles at "tipp3", with the most popular bet being 2:1.

Ralf Rangnick

(Bild: AFP/ APA/PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA)

Would be nice, would make us all happy, team boss Ralf Rangnick has his very clear guidelines, ideas and goals:

• "The importance of this game is clear - it has play-off character, a draw doesn't really help either of us, we realize it's about winning!"
• "Our style of play is not geared towards a draw, not even in the 80th minute - if it ends that way, we have to win against Holland, which is a situation we don't necessarily want to be in. However, the same applies to the Poles, who won't want to bet everything on the last game against France. We don't want to calculate, we want to invest everything to win!"
• "Which way it goes depends on us, that's what we're concentrating on!"
• "Poland have their own style of play, a five-man back line and two strikers, Italy, Estonia and recently Serbia played similarly, we won those games!"

One-two with the fans
Rangnick has fond memories of the Olympic Stadium, and not just because of the Cup win with Schalke: "If it's full, there's a great atmosphere, we'll play a one-two with our fans!" Hopefully a sensible one, after the France game the ÖFB was fined 57,375 euros for throwing cups.

(Bild: GEPA)

Does he feel pressure? "We've made it clear that we want to progress, and to do that you have to win games. Everything is in place for a great game!"