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Bilic promises to play it straight against Poland
BAD TATZMANNSDORF, Austria (AFP) - Croatia will not take it easy against Poland in their final Euro 2008 Group B match Croat coach Slaven Bilic promised on Saturday.
The 39-year-old conceded he would be resting several of his first choice line-up but that neither Germany nor Austria should worry that the Croats - who have already qualified for the quarter-finals - would be sitting back and allow the Poles to take the three points on Monday.
Poland has an outside chance of making the last eight if they beat Croatia convincingly and Austria beat Germany - the Poles and Austria would then be on four points and it would come down to goal difference.
"We will play honestly. Not for Austria and Germany, but for ourselves," said Bilic.
"However, the players who have already been booked (Robert Kovac, Josip Simunic, Luka Modric, Darijo Srna and Jerko Leko) will not play.
"We are not idiots and we don't want to risk them (a second booking would rule them out of the quarter-final)."
Bilic, whose conviction that the Croats could win the title was given credence with their 2-1 defeat of Germany on Thursday, hinted also that those players who he felt were tired, striker Ivica Olic seeming to be one of them, would also be left out.
"However, the target and the demands will still be the same as all the other matches, to win," said Bilic.
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