Showing posts with label Wroclaw's Stadion Miejski. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wroclaw's Stadion Miejski. Show all posts
Czech Republic booked their place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 at the expense of co-hosts Poland after beating them 1-0 in Wroclaw.
Petr Jiracek's well-taken goal rounded off a clinical 72nd-minute counter-attack by the Czechs to secure the win they needed to progress to the knockout phase of a European Championship for the third time in their history.
That was not before high drama in the dying seconds, when Michal Kadlec blocked a goal-bound shot just moments before the final whistle to ensure his team became the first to top their group with a negative goal difference.
Poland become only the second host nation, after Austria four years ago, to be eliminated at the group stage as they failed to claim their first ever win in the competition.
The Czechs' victory also eliminates Russia, who lost 1-0 to Greece in the other Group A clash happening simultaneously in Warsaw.
At the kick-off on a rain-sodden night in Wroclaw, both sides knew that a win would definitely send them through to the quarter-finals, but Poland did not have the luxury of a draw possibly being enough for them.
Poland manager Franciszek Smuda retained the services of Przemslaw Tyton in goal despite the fact that Wojciech Szczesny was back from the suspension incurred by his red card in the opening draw with Greece.
Szczesny's Arsenal team-mate Tomas Rosicky was sat on the opposing bench after the Czech playmaker was ruled out with an Achilles problem.
The co-hosts began the match the brighter in front of their home support, even if the colours favoured by both nations meant all four corners of the ground were red-and-white.
The Poles registered six shots in a dominant early spell, with two early efforts getting the home supporters off their seats as they hit the side netting. Robert Lewandowski fired wide on 11 minutes as he sought to capitalise on a sloppy backpass in the Czech defence, while defender Sebastian Boenisch's long-range strike forced Petr Cech into action with a low save tipped around the post.
The Czechs gradually began to work their way back into the match as the high early tempo brought on by the conditions and the occasion subsided. Petr Jiracek almost picked out Milan Baros's clever run with a ball dinked over the defence, but the Galatasaray striker could not quite reach it after beating the Polish offside trap. Jaroslav Plasil's deflected shot was no problem for Tyton, whilst Vaclav Pilar started to torment Poland on the left wing but was also unable to really test the keeper as the first half ended goalless.
Just after the half-time whistle blew in Wroclaw, Giorgos Karagounis's goal against Russia in Warsaw changed the complexion of the group completely, as it meant a draw was no longer sufficient for the Czechs either.
Smuda made the first change of the match soon after the break, bringing on Kamil Grosicki for Eugen Polanski.
However, it was the Czechs who took the initiative armed with the knowledge that they too needed a win. They won several free-kicks around the edge of the Polish box, most of which were defended well but one came through to Tomas Sivok. The defender sent his header down into the turf, but it rebounded off Tyton's legs as it bounced back up and towards goal.
The Czechs finally made the breakthrough as the match entered the final 20 minutes. Rafal Murawski lost possession in the opposition half and they broke at pace. Baros surged into the Polish box and laid the ball off to Jiracek. The Wolfsburg attacker cut inside his marker and sidefooted a low finish underneath Tyton and into the far corner.
Tensions ran high as the clock ticked down as a scuffle broke out due to Poland's players being unhappy with the length of time Pilar was taking to leave the field as he was substituted. Plasil and Jakub Blaszczykowski were both booked by Scottish referee Craig Thomson for their part in the fracas.
Blaszczykowski also got a measure of revenge in the last few second of the four minutes of added time when his strike from the edge of the box was bound for the top corner. However, Kadlec leapt in to glance it off target with his head, and Thomson blew the final whistle just seconds later.
The Czechs had to wait for one agonising minute before confirmation arrived that Greece had won to finish as runners-up and send both of them through.
The Czech Republic got their Euro 2012 campaign back on track with a 2-1 victory over Greece in Wroclaw.
Petr Jiracek and Vaclav Pilar scored their goals inside the opening six minutes as Michal Bilek's side bounced back from their 4-1 defeat to Russia in their opening game.
Surprise Euro 2004 winners Greece were handed a lifeline when Theofanis Gekas capitalised on a Petr Cech blunder eight minutes after the break but they were unable to force an equaliser and now face a struggle to reach the quarter-finals with one point from two games.
The Greeks were without two key defenders, Avraam Papadopoulos, out of the tournament with a knee injury, and Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who was suspended, and the Czechs raced into the fastest 2-0 lead in European Championship history.
Wolfsburg wideman Jiracek nipped in ahead of left-back Jose Holebas to slot home the fourth fastest goal in European Championship history after just 134 seconds following a slide rule pass from Tomas Hübschman.
Keeper Kostas Chalkias got a hand to the effort but couldn't keep it out and he was also culpable for the second as was floundering defender Holebas.
Czech right-back Theodor Gebre Selassie got to the by-line with ease and his cut back went under the hand of the one-time Portsmouth custodian and was smuggled into the back of the net by Pilar.
Viktoria Plzen youngster Pilar was almost on his knees as he got between Vassilis Torosidis and Kostas Katsouranis to bundle the ball home.
Chalkias then went off injured and his replacement Michail Sifakis pushed a Tomas Rosicky effort past the post with the Arsenal man plus dangerous wingers Pilar and Jiracek off-target with further first-half attempts.
It was scarcely believable that Greece had lost only once in 22 matches under coach Fernando Santos on their first-half showing but they could have pulled one back when Georgios Fotakis nodded home only for the offside flag to be raised by the narrowest of margins.
Greece clawed their way back against Poland for a 1-1 draw in the tournament opener after conceding an early goal and they were back in the game on 53 minutes thanks to a howler from Chelsea custodian Cech.
A harmless ball from Georgios Samaras into the area was fumbled by Cech, who raced off his line but then turned his head away as he feared a collision with Tomas Sivok, and Gekas passed the ball into the empty net.
The Czechs' attacking threat relented and Cech must have been fearing a repeat of Euro 2008 when his mistakes saw his country eliminated after a late capitulation against Turkey but they were rarely put under pressure by a team that netted just 14 times in 10 qualifying matches, the lowest tally among the finalists.
Sivok blocked Kyriakos Papadopoulos' shot and Giorgios Karagounis teed up Giannis Maniatis whose 30-yard strike was well wide.
But they failed to carve out a real chance in open play and did not look like getting behind the Czech full-backs as they relied on high balls from deep which were comfortably dealt with by Sivok.
The Czechs went to Cech at full-time as they recorded their first win and will now be hoping for a repeat of 1996 when they reached the final despite losing their opening match.
Alan Dzagoev scored twice as Russia justified their billing as Group A favourites with a 4-1 dismantling of the Czech Repubic at Wroclaw's Stadion Miejski.
Dick Advocaat's side could have had more goals on the night, but settled for the four with Dzagoev (15, 79), Roman Shirokov (24) and Roman Pavlyuchenko (82) leading the Czech Republic's pedestrian defence a merry dance.
At 21, Dzagoev is the second youngest player to score twice at the European Championships after England striker Wayne Rooney, who scored his two at the age of 18 in 2004.
Vaclav Pilar scored a fine goal early in the second period to give the Czechs false hope, but they were well beaten by a technically superior side.
Russia will book their place in the quarter-finals with a win over co-hosts Poland on Tuesday night with the Czechs needing a win over Greece to maintain their hopes of finishing second in the section.
They are bottom of the group after the opening day with Poland and Greece sharing a 1-1 draw earlier in the day.
Russia struck the opening goal on 14 minutes when Alexandr Kerzhakov hit the post with a header before Dzagoev followed up to smash the rebound into the unguarded net.
They added a second goal when the lively Andrei Arshavin managed to send a ball spinning through the middle of the Czech Republic defence for Shirokov to dink the ball beautifully over Petr Cech on 24 minutes.
The Czechs somehow dragged themselves back into the reckoning when Pilar bounded on to a ball from Jaroslav Plasil before rounding opposing goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev to score.
With Kerzhavov missing numerous chances - he is the first player to have seven shots off target in a single game at the Euros since 1980 - before being hauled off to be replaced by Pavlyuchenko on 73 minutes, Russia had to wait until 79 minutes to finally seal the three points.
Pavlyuchenko played provider for Dzagoev to score with a thumping shot from inside the area before Lokomotiv Moscow forward Pavlyuchenko gave the scoreline a truer reflection when he thumped the ball high beyond Cech from just inside the Czech box on 82 minutes.
