Euro 2008 Day 10 - Croatia and Germany Advance
Published 6/17/2008 5:16:05 AM by Shane Barrow from soccermogul
Group B produced no surprises as the two favorites Croatia and Germany cruised through. The order of finish might be a bit surprising as Croatia took the group, but both sides were expected to advance. The order of finish did set up a tasty Euro 2008 quarterfinal matchup between Portugal and Germany though.
Croatia 1 Poland 0
Croatia's 1-0 win over Poland in their Euro 2008 Group B match on Monday has left coach Slaven Bilic with decisions to make over team selection ahead of Friday's quarter-final against Turkey in Vienna. With only pride to play for, already-qualified Croatia started with nine reserves but still notched a third victory in a row after Ivan Klasnic, back in top level football after a kidney transplant last year, hit the second-half winner. Croatia will now face Turkey in the quarterfinals.
Germany 1 Austria 0
Captain Michael Ballack secured Germany’s place in the Euro 2008 quarterfinals with a superb free-kick in the 1-0 win over co-hosts Austria on Monday. The pre-tournament favorites will face Group A winners Portugal in Basel on Thursday. After the two teams went to the break level at 0-0, Germany broke through in the 49th minute. The set piece was set up when Austria’s Andreas Ivanschitz pulled down Philipp Lahm. Ballack stepped up and drilled his right footed laser freekick over goalkeeper Jürgen Macho and into the upper right corner. Until that moment, the host nation had shown well with possession but could not find the final touch to beat Germany’s Jens Lehmann. Despite Austria pushing for the equalizer and several great counter attack opportunities, Germany could not add to the lead. With the win Germany advance to the elimination round for the first time since 1996 when they last won the tournament.
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