Poland went out with a whimper as a second string Croatia beat them 1-0 to make it three wins from three.

Croatia knew that qualification for the quarter-finals and indeed top spot in Group B was secure after their superb win over Germany and Coach Slaven Bilic took the chance to rest almost all his key personnel.

Only Juventus target Ivan Rakitic and Danijel Pranjic survived from the team that stunned the Germans and there was space for Milan outcast Dario Simic and Livorno stopper Dario Knezevic.

Poland boss Leo Beenhakker made four changes from the team that drew with Austria as Jakub Wawrzyniak, Rafal Murawski, Wojciech Lobodzinski and Roger Guerreiro handed starts.

The Poles knew that even a win wouldn’t be enough if Germany beat Austria in Vienna and goal difference would be decisive in the unlikely event of Austrian and Polish victories - in truth they needed a two-goal triumph.

As expected, the Poles pushed hard from the first whistle and Croatian goalkeeper Vedran Runje had to be alert to punch a Lobodzinski cross clear of Jacek Krzynowek.

The resultant corner was headed behind for another, which Napoli target Dariusz Dudka met but his header flashed wide.

Croatia flexed their muscles with a quarter of an hour played as Rakitic linked with Nikola Pokrivac before the ball fell to Pranjic, who should have done better than a half-hearted cross/shot.

And the Croats were inches away from going ahead with a Rakitic free-kick, which Hrvoje Vejic headed past the post.

It was the Rakitic show as he tested Artur Boruc’s capabilities by beating two men to swing a dangerous cross, but the Celtic No 1 was up to the task.

Pranjic’s magnificent ball was inches away from being converted by Petric, but the linesman’s flag was up anyway.

Knezevic had to be replaced by Vedran Corluka due to an injury.

Boruc came to the rescue after half an hour to deny Klasnic with his legs in a one-on-one situation, as Croatia looked menacing.

And Boruc was again decisive when he clawed a Rakitic effort out for a corner.

Jerko Leko dragged a dangerous-looking effort wide of the goal as the Polish defence opened up a little.

But Poland finished the first half the stronger without creating any clear-cut chances as tempers started to flare and three yellow cards were produced within 10 minutes.

Guerreiro started the second half with a decent effort that stung Runje’s palms, but news that Germany had gone ahead against Austria filtered through and took the wind out of the Poles’ sails.

And Poland’s tournament was as good as over when Pranjic’s ball found Klasnic to make it 1-0 Croatia - the Poles needed to score three times and for Austria to find the net twice!

Beenhakker threw on Ebi Smolarek - the top scorer in the qualification tournament - with 40 minutes to go.

Krzynowek tried to strike back, but his effort was dragged harmlessly wide of the posts.

Pranjic so nearly added to Poland’s misery when his cross bounced off the top of the bar.

Guerreiro came close for Poland with a neat effort on the turn that flashed past the post, but minutes later Borc did well to deny Pranjic.

Runje made a fine stop to deny Marek Saganowski’s back post header and Smolarek fired two decent efforts narrowly wide of the mark.

Smolarek’s ball fell to Zahorski but he somehow managed to hit the ball at the onrushing Runje in a one-one-one. It was the story of the Poles’ competition.

There was nothing left in the game and it fizzled out. Croatia will face Turkey in the quarter-finals and Poland will go home to reflect on a miserable competition.
Poland: Boruc; Wasilewski, Zewlakow, Dudka, Wawrzyniak; Lobodzinski (Smolarek 55), Murawski, Guerreiro, Lewandowski (Kokoszka 46); Krzynowek, Saganowski (Zahorski 69).

Croatia: Runje; Simic, Vejic, Knezevic (Corluka 27), Prznjic; Leko, Vukojevic, Pokrivac, Rakitic; Klasnic (Kalinic 73), Petric (Kranjcar 74)

Ref: Vassaras (Gre)

Ref From channel4.com

This is the match that settles Italy’s fate. To clear up the confusion, a Romanian win eliminates the Azzurri regardless of what happens in their game.

A draw in this encounter combined with an Italian draw also eliminates Roberto Donadoni – and Victor Piturca’s side could even lose by a margin of three goals or less, but strangely not exactly 3-0, and still progress. A win for Holland combined with a result either way in the other match will end Romania’s participation.

The permutations are myriad and confusing, but the main thing that Romania need to know is that they hold their own fate in their hands. If they can beat Holland then they will go into the quarter-finals – and that is all that will be concerning them. The speculation suggests that Holland will sit back and take it easy in order to ensure France and Italy go home, but the Eastern Europeans are more than capable of doing the job themselves.

“We have recorded two draws against the most powerful teams in the world,” explained defender Cosmin Contra. “We need to go in hard against Holland.” Meanwhile, the skipper Cristian Chivu has no qualms about hurting the hopes of his employing nation. “Nobody gave us a chance to qualify, or get past the best teams,” said the Inter defender. “We want to reach the quarterfinals and we want to send France and Italy home.”

The conspiracy theorists on the peninsula are wondering whether Holland Coach Marco Van Basten will ease off the gas with his side already qualified for the last eight. Two great performances have earned them the right to rest players in this match, but MVB insists he won’t be taking this match lightly.

“We don’t talk about an ‘A’ team and a ‘B’ team. We have 23 full internationals,” the former Milan striker explained of his side. “The fact we have qualified already is nice but we still want to perform at our best.” He definitely has options on his bench if he wishes to shuffle the pack. Outstanding Ajax attacker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has yet to even get a minute of playing time and will be eager to impress if he plays, while both Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben have made their impacts as substitutes.

Piturca has a headache defensively, given that Mirel Radoi is out of the tournament with a bad facial injury and Dorin Goian is suspended. Chivu is likely to drop back into defence with exciting midfielder Banel Nicolita likely to benefit by taking a starting shirt.

Romania have the Indian sign over the Dutch at the moment, having beaten and drawn with them in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Consequently a win for Adrian Mutu & Co may not be the shocking surprise that some may claim after the event. Having missed a vital penalty against Italy the Fiorentina striker will feel he owes his nation. “I will make up for it in the match against the Holland,” he promised. We shall have to wait and see if that is the case.

Key clash: Cristian Chivu v Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
The Romanian captain has been forced to go back into defence due to injuries and he will be tested to the limit if the Dutch decided to unleash Huntelaar in this game. The Ajax striker missed out on the squad for the World Cup and this time around has been restricted to watching from the bench. He will be itching to show the world what he can do and certainly won’t give Romania’s centre-backs any leeway in this clash.

Italian connection:
Holland’s Edwin Van Der Sar had a spell on the books of Juventus while the Romanian trio of Chivu, Mutu and Paul Codrea all ply their trade in Serie A.

Did You Know..?
This is the third time the two nations have met in the last 17 months. A 0-0 draw in Rotterdam in March 2007 was followed by a 1-0 win for Romania in October 2007 – the scorer being defender Goian. Both those games were in Euro 2008 qualifiers.

The defeat in October 2007 was the first time Romania had beaten Holland. The two nations also met in qualifiers for World Cup 2006 with the Dutch winning both.

Van Basten appeared for the Dutch national side in their final warm-up match before Euro ’88 – which they went on to win. Back in those days the European Championship was contested by just eight sides, this match will be Holland’s last before this event reaches a knockout stage involving an octagon of nations.

Van Basten has also faced Piturca before. They met in the 1989 European Cup Final which the Dutch boss won with Milan over Steaua Bucharest.
Holland (probable): To follow

Romania (probable): To follow

Ref: Busacca (Swi)

Ref From channel4.com

It’s the Derby of the Alps all over again, except this time both Italy and France know even a win might not be enough to stay in Euro 2008.

The rivalry between these two sides has sky-rocketed over the past few years with France’s Golden Goal victory in the Euro 2000 Final and revenge from the penalty spot in Berlin. They have met twice since that World Cup decider, the Azzurri losing 3-1 in Paris and scraping a 0-0 draw at San Siro.

Both teams still have a chance of reaching the quarter-finals, but are equally likely to crash out of the competition. If Romania beat an already-qualified Holland in the other Group C game, then the result in Zurich will be purely academic. However, if the Dutch continue their current form then the winner of this clash will go through to the next phase. Italy have another option, as due to their superior head-to-head record in terms of goals scored, a score draw with France and Romania’s defeat will see Roberto Donadoni through the Group of Death with a grand total of two points.

It’s not quite the situation everyone envisaged when the draw placed France and Italy together for the final match, but Holland have swept both aside with 4-1 and 3-0 scorelines respectively. Romania proved tough nuts to crack too, although the Nazionale can be boosted by a much better performance in Friday’s 1-1 draw. Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo apologised for incorrectly disallowing Luca Toni’s goal, but for all that it was only a Christian Panucci tap-in and late Gianluigi Buffon penalty save from Adrian Mutu that kept them in the competition this far.

It is worrying that Italy’s only goal has been scored by a defender, so Donadoni is tempted to again reshuffle his squad. Having already changed five from the starting XI that lost to Holland, Alessandro Del Piero now finds himself threatened by the on form Antonio Cassano. Alberto Aquilani is also pushing for a midfield spot after Simone Perrotta was fielded in an unusually deep position against Romania. The defence seems to be confirmed now with Panucci and Giorgio Chiellini giving up their usual full-back roles to shore up the central defence between the marauding Gianluca Zambrotta and Fabio Grosso, the latter facing some of his Olympique Lyonnais teammates.

France boss Raymond Domenech fully lived up to his ‘provocateur’ reputation by musing that “the Romania result is already written” and he might field “the youngsters in this game so they can gain experience.” For all the talk of a futile gesture, he never likes to lose, especially against Italy. “This is like a derby for me now,” grinned the controversial figure.

Inter midfielder Patrick Vieira might be back from injury, though William Gallas is now struggling with an ankle problem. Former Juventus and Parma defender Lilian Thuram admits he had a nightmare against Holland, but is eager to prove he’s still in good shape.

In attack Samir Nasri has been consistently sharp in training and could finally get a start in support of Thierry Henry with both Karim Benzema and Bafetimbi Gomis disappointing so far. If Domenech does indeed go for a younger line-up, then former Under-21 internationals Sidney Govou, Lassana Diarra and the often ignored Manchester United man Patrice Evra could get a look-in.

Key clash: Fabio Grosso v Franck Ribery
It’s a tasty battle down that flank between The Flamingo and Scarface, one that was already seen in 2006. Grosso came out the winner that day and with his current form will be hoping to make it a Double. “Fabio is my great friend, but I am always explaining to my colleagues that they must not let him get to the byeline,” warned goalkeeper and Lyon teammate Gregory Coupet. “We nicknamed him Monsieur Prope (a French Mr Sheen, ndr), as he has a magic left foot and always serves perfectly clean assists. Great scoring opportunities are bound to be sparked from his feet.” With Ribery often France’s strongest attacking threat, it’ll be a real tussle to see them charge up and down that wing covering and pushing in turns.

Italian connection:
There are so many French stars with links to their neighbouring nation, from ex-Juventus figures Lilian Thuram, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Thierry Henry to current Inter midfielder Patrick Vieira and Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey. Even Patrice Evra started his career with Serie C outfit Marsala. Fabio Grosso shared the recent Lyon title with Gregory Coupet, Boumsong, Francois Clerc, Sebastien Squillaci, Jeremy Toulalan, Karim Benzema and Sidney Govou, while Luca Toni celebrated Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga triumph with Franck Ribery and Willy Sagnol.

Did You Know..?
Even with the 2006 victory on penalties, Italy have not beaten France within the 90 minutes since a 2-1 result in the 1978 World Cup. Their latest European Championship encounter was the Euro 2000 Final on July 2, won by David Trezeguet’s Golden Goal. The only survivors from that game are Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry, Massimo Ambrosini and Alessandro Del Piero.

Referee Lubos Michel was also officiating the most recent meeting, a 0-0 qualifying draw at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The other Group B game was a 3-1 thrashing in Paris, Sidney Govou scoring twice with Thierry Henry and Alberto Gilardino’s lone reply.

Including shoot-outs, the record now stands at 18 Azzurri victories, nine France wins and eight stalemates.

Holland inflicted the heaviest ever European Championship defeat on both these teams in Euro 2008. Italy had never previously lost a tie 3-0 in this tournament, while France were hammered 4-1.

With two games of the competition gone, both World Cup Finalists have an identical record so far – one point, one goal scored and four conceded.

Roberto Donadoni’s men tested out the Letzigrund Stadion in Zurich earlier this year by beating Portugal 3-1 in a 6 February friendly. Luca Toni, Fabio Cannavaro and Fabio Quagliarella were on target.
France (probable): Coupet; Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Evra; Ribery, Makelele, Toulalan, Malouda; Nasri, Henry

Italy (probable): Buffon; Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso; Camoranesi, Pirlo, De Rossi, Aquilani; Cassano, Toni

Ref: Michel (Slk)

Ref From channel4.com