Goals by Marc Janko and Rene Aufhauser before the break put the hosts firmly in front but Sidney Govou got one back for France on the hour. A converted penalty by Andreas Ivanschitz in the 72nd minute finished off the scoring and France’s fate.

l’Austria stende i transalpini (3-1) dominando dall’inizio alla fine. Vittoria meritata per gli austriaci che si portano avanti due a zero prima del gol francese di Govou che accorcia le distanze. Ma ci pensa Ivanschitz al 72esimo a chiudere la partita.

Marcelo Lippi returned as manager of Italy and saw his team go 2-0 down thanks to goals from Pogatetz and Janko. But the Azzurri hit back with goals from Gilardino and an Ozcan og.

Occasioni sprecate ed errori in difesa: la squadra di Bruckner a Nizza va a sorpresa sul 2-0. Poi però viene fuori il carattere degli azzurri, che riagguantano il pari con due reti fortunose (Gilardino e un autogol del portiere) ma anche con impegno e ricerca della vittoria.

Michael Ballack’s stunning second-half free-kick earned Germany a 1-0 victory over co-hosts Austria at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna that secured their place in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals. Germany had laboured in the first half, but Ballack’s unstoppable 30-yard effort settled their nerves early in the second period and Austria were unable to take the few chances they managed to create in the remainder of the game.

Tedeschi avanti, ma che fatica. Davanti a un’Austria desiderosa di uscire di scena con onore, la squadra di Loew fa il minimo indispensabile grazie a una prodezza di Ballack, ma mostra tutte le sue lacune in fase di costruzione di gioco oltre ai problemi di finalizzazione evidenziati dagli errorori di Klose, Gomez e Neuville.

An injury-time penalty from Ivica Vastic earned co-hosts Austria a 1-1 draw against Poland at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna that keeps their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages alive. Naturalised Brazilian midfielder Roger Guerreiro put Poland ahead from close range in the first half after Austria had spurned a series of golden opportunities to take the lead. Poland looked the more likely scorers for the majority of the second half, until English referee Howard Webb spotted an infringement in the Polish penalty area in injury time and the 37-year-old Vastic fired home from the spot.

Un rigore a tempo scaduto, molto contestato, regala il pari alla nazionale austriaca contro la Polonia e la tiene ancora in corsa per la qualificazione. La seconda partita del Gruppo B finisce 1-1. A segno per primo il polacco Guerreiro al 30esimo. Per i padroni di casa, invece, trasforma dagli undici metri Vastic.

An early penalty from Luka Modric gave Croatia an unconvincing 1-0 European Championships Group B opening win over a plucky Austria side at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. Rene Aufhauser’s clumsy tackle felled Ivica Olic in the third minute, and new Tottenham midfielder Modric calmly slotted the ball past Juergen Mach to score the quickest penalty ever in European Championships history. Austria can take heart despite the defeat, as they outplayed an ordinary Croatia side - the game came in the light of 10,000 of their own fans signing a petition calling for their withdrawal from the tournament to avoid humiliation at the hands of their “superiors”.

Decide la gara un rigore segnato dal centrocampista Modric al 4′ del primo tempo. Gara poco spettacolare, nella ripresa Austria generosamente all’arrembaggio, ma l’unica grande occasione arriva nel recupero, con Kienast, che mette appena fuori di testa.