Czech Republic 1-0 Poland Highlights – Euro 2012
Petr Jiracek scored the only goal of a scrappy game in Wroclaw to break Polish hearts and send Czech Republic into the quarter-finals as winners of Group A.
Watch Euro 2012 match, Czech Republic Vs Poland highlights here.
Venue: Municipal Stadium, Wroclaw
Date: Saturday, 16 June
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Highlights
Alternative Highlights
1-0 P. Jirácek 72′
Head-to-head
The five previous meetings between the sides all ended in home wins – Poland claiming three victories and the Czech Republic two.
The only competitive encounters came in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup; Poland won 2-1 in Chorzow in October 2008, while the Czechs triumphed 2-0 in Prague 12 months later.
Poland
A draw would make Poland the first team to share the points in all three of their group games at a European Championship.
The Poles have lost just once in 14 games, a run lasting a year. Their only defeat in that time was a 2-0 loss to Italy in November 2011. They are unbeaten in their last eight games (W5, D3).
They converted 2.6% of shots into goals at Euro 2008, the worst record at that tournament, and have found the net with just two of 28 efforts at Euro 2012 (7.1%).
If Poland don’t win they will join Romania and Switzerland as the only sides who failed to win their first six European Championship games. Both Romania and Switzerland had to wait until their ninth match for their first victories. No team has played as many games the Poles without winning at the tournament.
Czech Republic
Milan Baros was top scorer at Euro 2004 with five goals. Only six players have scored six or more goals at European Championships: Michel Platini (9), Alan Shearer (7), plus Ruud van Nistelrooy, Patrick Kluivert, Thierry Henry and Nuno Gomes (all with 6).
The Czechs’ game against Greece produced only 15 shots – the fewest at a European Championship game since 1980.
Against the Greeks they became the first side to establish a two-goal lead in the first six minutes of a European Championship match.
Petr Jiracek’s goal against Greece, after two minutes & 14 seconds, is the third fastest in European Championship history. The only players to score quicker goals are Russia’s Dmitri Kirichenko (one minute & 7 seconds against Greece in 2004), and the USSR’s Sergei Aleinikov (two minutes & 7 seconds against England in 1988).