The Czech Republic booked a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 after a 1-0 victory over co-hosts Poland in Wrocław.
Before kick-off it seemed likely that a draw would be enough for the Czechs, with Russia expected to beat Greece, whilst Poland knew that only a win would continue their interest in the tournament.
But with Greece leading 1-0 against Russia in Warsaw, Michal Bílek's side needed victory to qualify for the knock-out stages.
And they got the goal they needed in the 72nd minute as Petr Jiráček collected a pass from Milan Baroš in the box, cut right to clear past Marcin Wasilewski and slotted the ball inside the far post.
The co-hosts came close to snatching a leveler in the closing moments when Jakub Błaszczykowski went through on goal and lifted the ball over Petr Čech only for Michal Kadlec to head off the line.
The win put the Czech Republic into the quarter-finals as Group A winners and will play the runners up from Group B - either Germany, Portugal, Denmark or Netherlands.
Lineups:
Poland: Przemysław Tytoń; Łukasz Piszczek, Marcin Wasilewski, Damien Perquis, Sebastian Boenisch; Dariusz Dudka, Eugen Polanski (Kamil Grosicki, 56); Jakub Błaszczykowski, Rafał Murawski (Adrian Mierzejewski, 73), Ludovic Obraniak (Paweł Brożek, 72); Robert Lewandowski
Czech Republic: Petr Čech; Theodor Gebre Selassie, Tomáš Sivok, Michal Kadlec, David Limberský; Tomáš Hübschman, Jaroslav Plašil; Petr Jiráček (František Rajtoral, 84), Daniel Kolář, Václav Pilař (Jan Rezek, 88); Milan Baroš (Tomáš Pekhart, 90)
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| Czech Republic midfielder Petr Jiráček scores the winning goal against Poland Photo: Getty Images |
Before kick-off it seemed likely that a draw would be enough for the Czechs, with Russia expected to beat Greece, whilst Poland knew that only a win would continue their interest in the tournament.
But with Greece leading 1-0 against Russia in Warsaw, Michal Bílek's side needed victory to qualify for the knock-out stages.
And they got the goal they needed in the 72nd minute as Petr Jiráček collected a pass from Milan Baroš in the box, cut right to clear past Marcin Wasilewski and slotted the ball inside the far post.
The co-hosts came close to snatching a leveler in the closing moments when Jakub Błaszczykowski went through on goal and lifted the ball over Petr Čech only for Michal Kadlec to head off the line.
The win put the Czech Republic into the quarter-finals as Group A winners and will play the runners up from Group B - either Germany, Portugal, Denmark or Netherlands.
Lineups:
Poland: Przemysław Tytoń; Łukasz Piszczek, Marcin Wasilewski, Damien Perquis, Sebastian Boenisch; Dariusz Dudka, Eugen Polanski (Kamil Grosicki, 56); Jakub Błaszczykowski, Rafał Murawski (Adrian Mierzejewski, 73), Ludovic Obraniak (Paweł Brożek, 72); Robert Lewandowski
Czech Republic: Petr Čech; Theodor Gebre Selassie, Tomáš Sivok, Michal Kadlec, David Limberský; Tomáš Hübschman, Jaroslav Plašil; Petr Jiráček (František Rajtoral, 84), Daniel Kolář, Václav Pilař (Jan Rezek, 88); Milan Baroš (Tomáš Pekhart, 90)
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