Thursday, 12 June 08, 07:23 AM
Looking at the stats, I'm quite happy and confident - Poland not only runs faster (29.29 kph compared to Austrian 27.12 kph) but also further (108.426 km to 197.858 km). Almost every Polish player has been faster than the corresponding Austrian player - even the goalkeeper Artur Boruc has been faster than Jurgen Macho.
Of course the speed is not everything - let's take a look at "ordinary" match stats:
Here the things don't look as well - Austria had 6/9 shots compared to Poland's 5/6. In crosses the difference is more significant - 24 to 15. 4 to 3 in corners also show that Austria had more chances against Croatia than Poland against Germany.
The optimistic thing is that Poland also was trying - 4 offsides (0 for Austria) and 2 counter-attacks (1 for Austria) show, that Poland was slightly more focused on quick responses to the threat before the opposing team could have regrouped.
The rule of today's football is that a team which controls the ball longer, has bigger chances for victory. So, Poland, tomorrow try better than 48% - Austria had 53%!
On World Cup 2010 Qualifications Fixtures