LEO Beenhakker conceded Poland will need to go back to the drawing board after seeing his side finish with just one point and one goal from their first appearance at a European Championship finals.
Poland bowed out of Euro 2008 after their slim hopes of progressing through to the quarter-finals were ended by their 1-0 defeat to Croatia, although even a win would not ultimately have been enough for Beenhakker's men with Germany beating Austria in the other Group B match.
The Poles had high hopes going into the tournament following a successful qualifying campaign, but that optimism proved misplaced with the team finishing bottom of their pool.
Beenhakker admitted after his side's loss to Croatia that they had not been up to scratch throughout the finals, and that they would need to fix things with hard work on the training ground.
"We have tried but it's not been good enough. This is more or less what we have seen the whole tournament," Beenhakker said.
"Everybody is very disappointed because we had a lot of ambition to do better and that was a realistic thing because we showed during most of the qualifying matches that we can do much better.
"But I have to say we were not good enough in this tournament. Over the three matches, apart from some unlucky moments, we were still not good enough to handle this level.
"So the only solution is going back to the training pitch, start practising again and hopefully in the future to be good enough to provide competition to most of these strong countries," the veteran Dutchman added.
While Poland return home to plot how they can improve, Croatia march on into the quarter-finals with a 100% record following their wins over Austria, Germany and the Poles.
Despite resting a host of first-choice players for their final group match, Croatia still managed to see off Poland thanks to Ivan Klasnic's second-half strike and Slaven Bilic's men will now face Turkey in the last eight.
Bilic already knows what it is like to reach the last four of a major international tournament having been part of the Croatia side that reached the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup in France.
When asked about his side's prospects of matching that '98 side, Bilic said: "There is no last 16 in the European Championships so there is one round less. We are very close to the semis as there is just one match to go, but it will be a difficult match.
"I don't want to go into that now, but whatever happens we are a really great team and I'm really proud of my side. If there is just a little luck, and I think we deserve luck by our behaviour, by our work and by our belief in each other, in our nation and in God, I believe we can beat any opponent."
Although it is the quarter-finals of the European Championships, Bilic insists they need to treat it like any other game.
"The quarter-final is just another match, of course the stakes are higher but we certainly don't lack motivation, we just have to keep our cool and prepare for it like it is just another match, because it is just another match."
ends
The Poles had high hopes going into the tournament following a successful qualifying campaign, but that optimism proved misplaced with the team finishing bottom of their pool.
Beenhakker admitted after his side's loss to Croatia that they had not been up to scratch throughout the finals, and that they would need to fix things with hard work on the training ground.
"We have tried but it's not been good enough. This is more or less what we have seen the whole tournament," Beenhakker said.
"Everybody is very disappointed because we had a lot of ambition to do better and that was a realistic thing because we showed during most of the qualifying matches that we can do much better.
"But I have to say we were not good enough in this tournament. Over the three matches, apart from some unlucky moments, we were still not good enough to handle this level.
"So the only solution is going back to the training pitch, start practising again and hopefully in the future to be good enough to provide competition to most of these strong countries," the veteran Dutchman added.
While Poland return home to plot how they can improve, Croatia march on into the quarter-finals with a 100% record following their wins over Austria, Germany and the Poles.
Despite resting a host of first-choice players for their final group match, Croatia still managed to see off Poland thanks to Ivan Klasnic's second-half strike and Slaven Bilic's men will now face Turkey in the last eight.
Bilic already knows what it is like to reach the last four of a major international tournament having been part of the Croatia side that reached the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup in France.
When asked about his side's prospects of matching that '98 side, Bilic said: "There is no last 16 in the European Championships so there is one round less. We are very close to the semis as there is just one match to go, but it will be a difficult match.
"I don't want to go into that now, but whatever happens we are a really great team and I'm really proud of my side. If there is just a little luck, and I think we deserve luck by our behaviour, by our work and by our belief in each other, in our nation and in God, I believe we can beat any opponent."
Although it is the quarter-finals of the European Championships, Bilic insists they need to treat it like any other game.
"The quarter-final is just another match, of course the stakes are higher but we certainly don't lack motivation, we just have to keep our cool and prepare for it like it is just another match, because it is just another match."
ends
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