Rosicky in fitness race for Czech Republic

Tomas Rosicky faces a race against time to be fit for Czech Republic's Euro 2012 quarter-final after missing the victory over Poland through injury.



The Arsenal midfielder sat out the 1-0 win over the co-hosts in Wroclaw with the Achilles injury that forced him off during Tuesday's 2-1 win over Greece.

Czech coach Michal Bilek says Rosicky remains a doubt, although his team-mates coped admirably in his absence.



"It's difficult to say we have Rosicky, he's irreplaceable," Bilek said.

"He tried [the injury] before the match and he couldn't start, but Daniel Kolar played a great match."

Bilek admitted he had been impressed by the improvement his young team had made after a first half where in which they had been second best to Poland.

"We started improving at the end of the first half but during the break I told the players to be patient and to be careful at the back," Bilek added.

"We were patient and we were able to counter attack because they opened the defence."

Czech midfielder Petr Jiracek scored the decisive goal 18 minutes from time to send his side through and in doing so end Poland's Euro 2012 dream.

The Wolfsburg player said his side had topped Group A because they had made a gradual improvement as the match wore on.

"We had a poor start but we gradually improved, started to create chances and finally, we deserved to score," Jiracek said.



Czech landmarks - Source: Opta Sports

This is the second time Czech Republic have qualified from a Euro group stage with a negative goal difference (also in 1996).

Czech Republic are only the second side to top a group at the Euros despite conceding five goals (after Spain in 2000).





"I'm very happy that after the first match, when we didn't do very well, we were under pressure but won our remaining matches and we showed everybody that we're worth it.

Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech admitted the occasion had got to the team but that their recovery had shown character.

"We started badly and let the occasion get to us a little bit, the home side capitalised on our mistakes," Cech, the Chelsea player, said.

"But with time we got better, we created chances and then scored a deserved goal."

A Greece goal just before half-time in Warsaw, where Group A's other game was taking place, had meant Czech Republic needed to score to avoid elimination from the tournament.

"We knew the result (of the other game), they told us and we could see it on a screen, but we focused on ourselves, decided not to wait for miracles and to score instead."

Euro 2012: Czech Republic 1-0 Poland

Petr Jiracek's second-half goal ensured the Czech Republic squeaked into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 as co-hosts Poland suffered an early exit.



Outplayed for the majority of the first half, the Czechs were seemingly stung into action after Greece took a half-time lead against Russia in the other Group A game in Warsaw.



That result left Michal Bilek's men needing all three points to reach the last eight and after dominating the tempo after the interval, Jiracek's calm finish ensured they topped the group, with Russia and Poland the eliminated teams.



Poland knew nothing less than a win would see them reach the knockout stages at the expense of the Czech Republic, who also needed three points to guarantee their qualification for the last eight.



Similar to their previous two matches, Poland were understandably backed by boisterous home support and they nearly gave them something to shout about early on but Dariusz Dudka's overhead kick hit the side netting.



Yet they should have been behind soon after and were grateful for Vaclav Pilar completely fluffing his lines in front of goal after Theodor Gebre Selassie had picked him out with a low ball into the area.



The frenetic start continued, with Poland midfielder Ludovic Obraniak's free-kick from a narrow angle hitting the side netting once more while Robert Lewandowski should have done better after slicing horribly wide with a decent sight at goal.



It seemed only a matter of time that the Czech Republic defence would be breached and goalkeeper Petr Cech had to be at his best to push away Sebastian Boenisch's dipping 30-yard effort.



With the rain teeming down in Wroclaw, the action slowed down a touch although the Czechs, who beat Greece after losing to Russia, ended the half well.



Milan Baros, after beating the offside trap, failed to control David Limbersky's chip over the defence while Pilar's powerful strike from the edge of the area was gathered by Polish keeper Przemyslaw Tyton at the second attempt.



As the teams trudged off at the interval it was the Czechs who would be going through but Greece taking a shock lead on the stroke of half-time against Russia meant both the Czech Republic and Poland needed victory if the result in Warsaw stayed the same.



Spurred into action the Czechs responded positively, dominating possession in the early stages of the second half but failing to create any clear cut chances.



However, Poland were conceding needless free-kicks on the edge of their area and were nearly made to pay for their reckless defending.



Plasil's excellent delivery found Tomas Sivok but his header was blocked and then instantly punched away by Tyton.



The Czechs were rewarded for their second-half persistence in the 72nd minute as Jiracek gave them a deserved lead.



Baros ran through on goal before sliding the ball to Jiracek, who cut past Boenisch and coolly slotted past Tyton.



Poland head coach Franciszek Smuda threw caution to the wind, bringing on Pawel Brozek and Adrian Mierzejewski immediately after but they failed to test Cech although the Czech Republic defended stoutly.



However, in injury time Poland's Jakub Blaszczykowski went through on goal and lifted the ball over Cech only for Tomas Sivok to head off the line, with the final whistle blown immediately after to herald scenes of jubilation from Bilek's men.

Polanski encourages Polish effort

Eugen Polanski wants his Poland team-mates to give everything for their country in the crunch clash against Czech Republic on Saturday.



The co-hosts face Michal Bilek's side in the final round of matches in Group A needing a win to secure progression, but knowing any other result will lead to an early exit from Euro 2012.



The 26-year-old has labelled the fixture the most important of his career, while he thinks if the team focus their full efforts on the match then they will get three vital points.



"We know that we can do something special for our fans and the country," he told reporters.



"This is the most important game in my career. This whole tournament is extremely important.



"All the preparation, all the training, four weeks of preparation, we are here for five weeks in total, and we want to demonstrate that we can give everything.



"If we give 100 per cent of ourselves, we will win definitely tomorrow."