Veteran Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis halted Russia’s Euro 2012 campaign in its tracks on Saturday, as the underdogs unexpectedly beat the Group A early pacesetters 1-0 to reach the last eight instead.

Seconds before the end of stoppage time in the first half, the 35-year-old midfielder latched onto a throw-in that Russian defender Sergei Ignashevich failed to deal with.

Dodging between the Russian rearguard, he fired a powerful low cross shot past goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev.
The 4,000 Greek fans in Warsaw’s stadium, who up to then had largely been outsung by 20,000 Russians, went wild as Karagounis hit home to put his side through on the head to head rule - both sides ending on four points behind group winners the Czech Republic.

Greece, who drew 1-1 with tournament co-hosts Poland in their first match and then lost 2-1 to the Czechs, looked the hungrier side from the start and refused to play a walk on part in Russia’s expected drive to the quarter-finals.

Russia, meanwhile, had thrashed the Czech Republic 4-1 in their own opening match and then drawn 1-1 in a hard-fought match with Poland where they lost their lead.

Karagounis, who was in Greece’s Euro 2004 winning squad, and his team-mates had gone into the Russia game gung-ho, knowing that only a win would keep them in the tournament.

They had also said they aimed to bring some cheer to their crisis-ravaged homeland. Six minutes in, Karagounis fired a corner to Kostas Katsouranis, and Dimitris Salpingidis bundled goalwards, only for Malafeev to save.

Salpingidis had been Greece’s hero of the night when, after coming on as a half-time substitute, he equalised against Poland for his side, earlier reduced to 10 men.

Three minutes later, Russian captain Andrey Arshavin crossed to rising star Alan Dzagoev but he was beaten by Greek goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis - brought in to replace Kostas Chalkias, injured in their defeat by the Czechs.

Dzagoev tried again a minute later, but fired over the bar, before Aleksandr Kerzhakov shot wide. Russia continued to show their strength as the half progressed, underlining the Greeks’ vulnerability to counter-attacks.
But while not ironclad, Greece’s defence remained solid at the end.

Czechs shatter Poland’s dreams
 Co-hosts Poland crashed out of the European Championship as they lost 1-0 to the Czech Republic at the Municipal Stadium on Saturday with their opponents winning Group A. Petr Jiracek scored the only goal of the game 18 minutes from time as the Czechs joined Greece - the 2004 champions - in the quarter-finals.

Few would have predicted such an outcome before the group games began and even fewer who saw the first halves here and in Warsaw.

Poland were totally dominant in the opening period but seemed to have left it all on the pitch in that first 45 minutes and they were second best after the restart.

But it was a mistake that cost them as Rafal Murawski tried to drive forward from midfield and lost the ball with little cover behind him. It means Poland have never reached the knock-out stages of the Euros while the Czech Republic did so for the third time in five editions.

Given the hosts’ absolute need to win it was no surprise they set a manic tempo from the off and the first half hour must have made uncomfortable viewing for the visiting Czech fans.

Twice in the opening minutes the home fans let out a brief cheer but Dariusz Dudka’s overhead bicycle kick and Ludovic Obraniak’s free-kick both hit the side-netting rather than the back one.

The Czechs did have one sniff themselves but Vaclav Pilar swiped at thin air from 12 yards from Theodor Gebre Selassie’s cross. A horribly misplaced pass from Jaroslav Plasil was intercepted by Polish captain Jakub Blaszczykowski and he slipped in Borussia Dortmund team-mate Robert Lewandowski, but he sliced his shot well wide.

Such was Poland’s dominance that even their defence started getting in on the act and Sebastian Boenisch shot wide when well placed before sending Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech scurrying across his goal to scramble the ball behind from a long-range volley.

Marcin Wasilewski threw himself at a cross from deep but his header was gathered easily by Cech.
Towards the end of the half Poland’s electric pace -- which seemed to have provoked a couple of flashes of lightning and an enormous crack of thunder -- slowed markedly and the Czechs came back into it.

But a deflected Jiracek shot and Pilar’s low effort did not overly tax goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton, who kept his place despite the return from suspension of Wojciech Szczesny.

The second half was the reverse of the first with Poland melting away and the Czech Republic piling forwards. David Limbersky skipped into the box but prodded wide before Tomas Sivok won a header from Plasil’s free-kick inside the six yard box only for his downward effort to bounce up into Tyton’s chest.

The big breakthrough came 18 minutes from time as Murawski surged forwards from midfield but was dispossessed by Jiracek. The Czechs countered three on three and Jiracek exchanged passes with Milan Baros before turning inside Wasilewski and slipping the ball under Tyton.

Wasilewski got up well to win a header in the box but it landed on the roof of the net as the hosts finally came alive. With virtually the last kick of the match Michal Kadlec secured qualification for the Czechs as he headed Blaszczykowski’s chip off the line. Had that gone in, the Czechs would have been out.

Biscuit threatens to sidetrack Italy’s Ireland prep
Italy’s preparation for their final European Championship Group C clash against Ireland here tomorrow is at risk of being derailed by a biscuit.

The 2006 world champions sit third in their group after 1-1 draws against Spain and Croatia. They trail both of those by two points with pointless Ireland already eliminated.

Italy’s preparations should be firmly concentrated on getting the victory over Ireland that should prove sufficient to send them into the quarter-finals.

However talk of a “biscotto”, or biscuit in English, has got Italian nerves jangling and conspiracy theorists clamouring foul play before even a ball has been kicked.

Should Spain and Croatia draw 2-2 in Gdansk then they will both qualify for the quarter-finals at Italy’s expense, regardless of their result against Ireland.

It is because in the case of two or more teams finishing level on points, their head-to-head records come into play. It was a similar scenario at Euro 2004 when Italy were ousted by a 2-2 draw in the final game between Nordic neighbours Sweden and Denmark.

Those two played a competitive match until the fourth goal went in and then seemed to both settle for the result that guaranteed their passage into the knock-out stages.

That has become known as a “biscotto” in Italian as it is the term used for an arrangement between two parties at the expense of a third. Its origin comes either from horses being doped by biscuits or the principle of dividing up a cake equally, according to Italian sources.