Croatia Upset Favourites Germany, Poland and Austria Draw
Group B has seen the first real shock result of the tournament, as favourites Germany were comprehensively beaten 2-1 - despite a late goal from Podolski. Austria and Poland draw in Vienna after an injury time penalty is awarded to Austria.
The early evening match saw Germany meet Slaven Bilic’s Croatian side, with the winner set to be guaranteed a place in the next round. Germany were favourites to win Euro 2008 with the bookies, but Croatia were clear winners in Klagenfurt, Austria.
The deadlock was broken in the 24th minute, when Srna reached Pranjic’s cross before Jansen and fired it home.
Germany did not look half the team they did against Poland on Sunday, and struggled to find any fluency. Despite this, they were still creating chances, and came close on several occasions. It was Croatia, however, that grabbed their second just after the hour - with what can only be described as a lucky intervention.
Rakitic’s cross from the right looked harmless, but it took a deflection off Podolski and Lehmann touched the ball onto his post. Unfortunately for the Arsenal keeper, the ball rebounded straight to Olic who simply had to tap it into the back of the net.
The Croatians were fully deserving of their lead, with a man-of-the-match performance from Tottenham signing Luca Modric who controlled things in midfield.
With Germany looking deflected, and struggling to break down a resilient Croatia defence, the game looked over. Germany did manage to pull one back with a little over 10 minutes left. The ball fell to Podolski on the edge of the box, who made no mistake and smashed the ball past Pletikosa with his favoured left foot.
It never looked like Germany would get anything out of this game though. The final whistle was met with huge celebrations from fans and players alike, and Croatia are confirmed as winners of Group C after the draw between Poland and Austria.
Poland and Austria met in Vienna knowing that a defeat would put them out of the tournament. With the Polish as favourites to win this one, it was a surprise to see the Austrians dominate the early stages. Chance after chance was going begging with Martin Harnik the worst culprit, after wasting two golden chances.
On half an hour Roger Guerreiro scored the opener for Poland - completely against the run of play. To rub salt in the wounds, it was scored from a clearly offside position. The second major ‘offside’ debate to hit the tournament. Surely UEFA can’t defend the officials with this one though!
Austria looked shell-shocked, and failed to rediscover their early rhythm. The second half saw Poland as the better team, with Austria seemingly resigned to defeat. However, in injury time, English referee Howard Webb was involved a major decision as he awarded a penalty to the Austrians for a shirt pull. The penalty looked to be a harsh decision, and Poland argued their case to no avail.
Vastic slammed the penalty past Artur Boruc - the keeper who had kept the Polish in the game in the first half. A controversial decision that could completely reshape the final Group B table.
Highlights can be found at the BBC Website.
Croatia are now confirmed as group winners, with Germany just needing a draw against the Austrians to reach the quarter-finals. Poland and Austria must win to stand any chance of going through.
