Czechs leave Greece standing with flying start
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E-mail Xinhua, June 13, 2012
Scoring twice only six minutes into the game, the Czech Republic beat Greece 2-1 on Tuesday in the Euro 2012 Group A.
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Vaclav Pilar of Czech Republic celebrates after scoring their second goal during their UEFA EURO 2012 Group A match against Greece. |
It was the opener of the second round of the tournament's group matches. In the first round, Greece snatched a 1-1 draw with co-hosts Poland, whilst the Czech Republic fell to a 4-1 defeat to Russia.
The Czechs enjoyed a flying start, working the ball well in midfield. In the third minute, Petr Jiracek put them ahead as he ran on to Tomas Hubschman's pass to fire home.
Only after three minutes, Czech midfielder Vaclav Pilar made the second goal when Greek keeper Kosias Chalkias failed to cut out Theodor Gebre Selassie's low cross to allow Pilar to tap in.
The lively Pilar came close to adding a third as he played a neat one-two on the edge of the area before firing just wide of the left-hand post.
Georgios Samaras had Greece's first sight of goal but the Celtic striker made a mess of meeting Vassilis Torosidis' cross.
Chalkias' miserable day continued as he was forced off after just 21 minutes, having pulled up after playing a pass out to his defenders, with Michalis Sifakis coming on to replace him.
Czech skipper Tomas Rosicky was booked after his high boot caught his Greece counterpart Giorgios Karagounis on the head but the Czechs' dominance continued as Sifakis was forced into his first save by a low Rosicky drive.
In the 53rd minute, a calamitous mistake from Cech conceded a goal to Greece. The Chelsea keeper came racing out for an aimless long ball but, distracted by Tomas Sivok, he lost control and substitute Gekas had the simple task of directing the loose ball into an empty net.
Buoyed by the goal Greece finally began to exert some control on the game with Karagounis and Samaras becoming increasingly prominent.
But they failed to create any genuine clear-cut chances, as the Czechs comfortably saw out the closing stages for a vital win.
