Jun
12
Austria shocks Poland in Group B action
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Today, it was a day of surprises for Group B teams. First Croatia stunned Germany beating them 2-1 and taking the lead in Group B securing a place in the quarter-finals. Croatia’s win was already bad news for Poland who lost their first game to them 4 days ago and they were probably hoping for a German victory.
Poland played co-hosts Austria in the second match of the day. They wanted a victory in order to keep their hopes alive for a spot in the next round. And they were doing just find holding on to a 1-0 lead over lowly Austria who didn’t seem like they could be much of a threat to the Polish squad. But such is soccer and a one goal lead can go from a triumph to a disaster in no time. And it happened to Poland. A penalty awarded to Austria in the last minute of injury time was successfully converted by Vastic generating a lot of grief for the Polish. The goal was also a new record for the European Championships since Vastic at age 38 became the oldest player to score in the tournament’s history.
Now Poland must battle with Germany in game 3 for a chance of qualifying to the next round. Even Austria is still in the game. If Poland beats Germany and Austria beats Croatia then goal differences will decide the tie breaking between Poland and Austria. So far, the latter have an advantage over the former since they have allowed fewer goals. The chances that Austria will beat Germany, though, are very low considering that the Germans will be determined to take the 3 points and advance as the second-place team in their group. Croatia will have a chance to rest some players in their game against Poland meaning that this could be an easy victory for the latter. But it could be a win without future for the Poland squad which had much hope for a longer stay in Austria-Switzerland.