Germany Through to Quarter-Finals, and Croatia Beat Poland

June 16, 2008 by CLDsport

Poland 0 v 1 Croatia, Austria 0 v 1 Germany

Germany have beaten Austria 1-0 to finish runners-up in Group B and will face Portugal in Basel on Thursday evening. Group winners beat Poland 1-0 in tonight’s other match.

A somewhat disappointing German performance was still enough to beat co-hosts Austria in Vienna tonight, but they will have to improve to beat the Portuguese in the quarter-finals.

Michael Ballack scored the only goal with a fantastic free-kick from 30-yards out, smashing it into the top corner giving the Austrian keeper no chance.

The goal spared Mario Gomez his blushes after the miss of the tournament, managing to miss-hit from just 2 yards out and the keeper not in sight. The German was later substituted after a wholly disappointing performance.

The German’s started the game knowing that their fate was in their own hands. Just a draw would have sent them through. Despite this, they started poorly. Luckily, so did the Austrians. Neither team were looking particularly potent and the biggest talking point was the two coaches being sent to the stands after what seemed to be an ongoing argument of some description.

The second-half was a better one, with the Germans starting strongly, and 4 minutes after the restart, they got their reward. Lahm was fouled after a fantastic run towards goal, and the resulting free-kick was taken care of by Chelsea midfielder Ballack.

The Austrians never looked like getting themselves back into the game. To advance to the next round they would have had to score twice against a typically organised German defence. It wasn’t to happen, and they become the second of the two host nations to leave the tournament.

Meanwhile, in Klagenfurt, Croatia beat Poland to end the chance of them reaching the next round. The only goal of the game came from Ivan Klasnic in the 52nd minute, crashing home a left-footed effort from 12 yards out.

The winning margin could - and probably should - have been more if it wasn’t for the fantastic goalkeeping from Artur Boruc in the Polish goal. Time after time he saved, and kept the Croatians at bay. The one man effort was never going to be enough though, and despite nine changes from the team that beat Germany, Croatia won the game 1-0.

Croatia now face Turkey on Friday, and Slaven Bilic’s team must be feeling confident following their impressive group stage.

Germany, however, will need to improve to beat Portugal. Nobody can bet against the German’s reaching the semis though. They are incredibly efficient, and often grind out important results when least expected.

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