Greece 1
Gekas 53;
Czech Republic 2
Jiracek 3; Pilar 6;
The Czech Republic kept alive their hopes of reaching the Euro 2012 quarter-finals as they beat Greece 2-1 in their Group A clash in Wroclaw, yesterday.
Victory not only took the Czechs onto three points with a game to come against co-hosts Poland but was also revenge for their defeat by the Greeks in the Euro 2004 semi-finals.
The Greeks – who went on to win the Euro 2004 title – are stuck on just a point with Russia to come.
The Czechs could not have hoped for a better start, scoring twice in the opening six minutes with Jiri Jiracek and Vaclav Pilar on the mark.
Greece threatened to get back into the match seven minutes into the second-half when Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech spilled the ball straight to Fanis Gekas and he tucked the ball away.
The Czech Republic made a dream start as they took advantage of the out of sorts second choice Greek centre-back pairing of Kostas Katsouranis and Kyriakos Papadopoulos, who had replaced the injured Avraam Papadopoulos and the suspended Socratis Papastathopoulos.
First Jiracek was picked out in the third minute by Thomas Hubschman with a superb ball over the top which the Wolfsburg dynamo ran on to and fired in a shot that gave Greek ‘keeper Kostas Chalkias no chance.
Chalkias was at fault for the second goal three minutes later as he failed to cut out Theo Gebre Selassie’s ball from the byline and with the two Greek central defenders slow to react Pilar slid in to put the ball in the net for his second goal of the tournament.
Chalkias’s unhappy evening ended prematurely when he had to go off injured in the 22nd minute and was replaced by Michalis Sifakis.
Sapakis proved himself, though, as he made two fine stops in the first-half from Rosicky and Jiracek.
However, the second half got off in the worst possible manner with Tomas Rosicky failing to appear as he was found to be suffering from an apparent Achilles tendon injury.
The Greeks, heartened by the loss of the Czechs’ most influential player, pressed for a goal.
They were rewarded when there was a rare error by keeper Cech as he collided with Tomas Sivok going for a cross spilled the ball and Gekas was on hand to gratefully tuck the ball into the net.
Comments
Czech coach Michal Bilek was delighted with the victory, though, not so happy with the second-half performance.
“The changes proved useful, we played a great first half, controlled the game, we soon scored twice, the first half was great,” said Bilek.
“Tomas Rosicky picked up an injury and we missed his creative skills, we found it hard to create, we conceded a terribly stupid goal and then got under pressure.”
Jiri Jiracek was more relieved than ecstatic.
“We’ve made it, the goal was really important, and we’re very happy right now,” he said.
“After five minutes we were on top, the crowd pushed us forward, but then we fell apart in the second half and had to fight till the end. We mustn’t get too satisfied, we know we had to fight hard.
“Now we’ll focus on the last game against Poland which will be terribly important and we’ve got to handle that.”
Greece
K. Chalkias (M. Sifakis 22), V. Torosidis, K. Papadopoulos, K. Katsouranis, J. Holebas, G. Fotakis (F. Gekas 46), G. Maniatis, G. Karagounis, D. Salpingidis, G. Samaras, K. Fortounis (K. Mitroglou 71).
Czech Republic
P. Cech, T.G. Selassie, T. Sivok, M. Kadlec, D. Limbersky, P. Jiracek, T. Hubschman, T. Rosicky (D. Kolar 46, F. Rajtoral 90), J. Plasil, V. Pilar, M. Baros (T. Pekhart 64).
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (France).
Attendance: 40,000.
Day-to-day fixtures
Group A
» Poland » Greece » Russia » Czech Republic
Poland vs Greece - 1-1
Russia vs Czech Rep. - 4-1
Greece vs Czech Rep. - 1-2
Poland vs Russia - 1-1
June 16: Czech Rep. vs Poland - 20.45
June 16: Greece vs Russia - 20.45
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Russia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Czech Rep. | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Poland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Greece | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Group B
» Holland » Denmark » Germany » Portugal
Holland vs Denmark - 0-1
Germany vs Portugal - 1-0
Today: Denmark vs Portugal - 18.00
Today: Holland vs Germany - 20.45
June 17: Portugal vs Holland - 20.45
June 17: Denmark vs Germany - 20.45
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Denmark | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Germany | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Holland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Portugal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Group C
» Spain » Italy » Ireland » Croatia
Spain vs Italy - 1-1
Ireland vs Croatia - 1-3
June 14: Italy vs Croatia - 18.00
June 14: Spain vs Ireland - 20.45
June 18: Croata vs Spain - 20.45
June 18: Italy vs Ireland - 20.45
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Croatia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Italy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ireland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Group D
» France » England » Ukraine » Sweden
France vs England - 1-1
Ukraine vs Sweden - 2-1
June 15: Ukraine vs France - 18.00
June 15: Sweden vs England - 20.45
June 19: England vs Ukraine - 20.45
June 19: Sweden vs France - 20.45
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Ukraine | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| France | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Quarter-finals
| Quarter-final 1 | June 21 | Winner Group A vs Runner-up Group B | 20.45 |
| Quarter-final 2 | June 22 | Winner Group B vs Runner-up Group A | 20.45 |
| Quarter-final 3 | June 23 | Winner Group C vs Runner-up Group D | 20.45 |
| Quarter-final 4 | June 24 | Winner Group D vs Runner-up Group C | 20.45 |
Semi-finals and final
| Semi-final 1 | June 27 | Winner Quarter-final 1 vs Winner Quarter-final 3 | 20.45 |
| Semi-final 2 | June 28 | Winner Quarter-final 2 vs Winner Quarter-final 4 | 20.45 |
| Final | July 1 | Winner Semi-final 1 vs Winner Semi-final 2 | 20.45 |