Czech Republic's Petr Jiracek and Poland's Ludovic Obraniak
The nice thing going into the final four days of group stage play at Euro 2012 was that pretty much everything was up for grabs. Ireland and Sweden had been eliminated in their respective groups, but all the quarter-final spots were still on the line. It set the table for some mouth watering drama.
The Group A Finale took place on Saturday with the Czech Republic against Poland and Greece against Russia. In Wroclaw, the Czechs needed a win over cohost Poland to advance. They were able to deliver, but looked a little nervy out of the gate. The first 25 minutes were pretty much all Poland. The opening minutes saw efforts from Dariusz Dudka and Robert Lewandowski hit the side netting, and Sebastian Boenisch forced a great save out of Petr Cech on 22 minutes.
The first half ended scoreless, but it was the Czechs who came out on fire in the second half. They were eating possession and minutes on the clock, but had a hard time carving out great chances. They finally got their breakthrough in the 72nd minute. Milan Baros ran into the top of the area, then expertly dished to Petr Jiracek, who easily slotted the ball into the Poland net to make it 1-0. The lone goal would be all the Czechs would need to see off Poland punch their ticket into the quarter-finals.
Giorgos Karagounis scored the Greeks' game winner. (AP Images)
The other simultaneous Group A fixture featured Greece going up against heavily favored Russia, who had been in command of the group since opening day. The Greeks needed a win and help from the Czechs, and they got both.
Greece came out on the offensive, forcing a flurry of early corner kicks. However Russia denied them a goal through a nice save by Vyacheslav Malafeev. Kostas Katsouranis also sent an effort just wide of the Russian net in the early sequences of play.
After that the Russians pretty much took over for most of the rest of the half. Andrey Arshavin had a shot saved, Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Yuri Zhirkov would also have good looks, but would fail to penetrate the Greek goal. On the stroke of half time, the Greeks would make them pay for being wasteful.
Greek Captain Giorgos Karagounis seized control of loose ball just outside of the Russian penalty in the 45th minute. He ran unchallenged into the area and coolly eased the ball through the Russian 'keeper to make it 1-0 to the Greeks at halftime.
The Russians would continue to push for a goal in the second half, but there was not one to be found. Unfortunately for the Greeks, Karagounis was booked for diving in the box late in the match. It was actually a pretty clear penalty, but the yellow will mean the Greek captain will miss their quarterfinal match. In the end, it didn't dampen the Greek spirits as they held on and celebrated a famous victory, sending them through and sending the Russians home early.
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