EURO 2008 Day 2 Round-up: No Surprises Yet!

الإثنين، 09 يونيو 2008 - 14:46

كتب : Mohamed Sabe

Group B matches of the EURO 2008 carried no surprises for fans and pundits who are still trying to figure out who will be the tournament's Dark Horse.

Austrian fans were disappointed to see their home team lose to Croatia 1-0 and even though the expectations for the team weren't high to begin with, they were nonetheless let down.

Poland also failed to break the duck against neighbors Germany who beat them 2-0 to end a winless in European Championships that lasted since 1996.

Incident of the Day: A Sad Podolski

Despite netting two crucial goals for the Mannschaft on Sunday, the Polish-born striker showed his disappointment after scoring the first goal against his native country.

Podolski refused to celebrate with his teammates who had rushed to congratulate him after scoring.

Trick of the Day: Joachim Low's Tactic

The German tactician took his Polish opponents by surprise when he fielded Podolski as a left midfielder.

This allowed him to bench the below-par Bastian Schweinsteiger without losing that attacking edge. The move paid off as Podolski gave Germany an extra attacking option supporting strikers Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez.

Podolski's endeavors on the left flank allowed for the swift transformation into a 4-3-3 formation and made it very hard for Poland's defenders to deal with him.

Man of the Day: Lukas Podolski

The Bayern Munich forward had endured a disappointing season with the Bavarian giants ever since the arrival of national teammate Klose and Italian ace Luca Toni.

Podolski fell down the pecking order and was relegated to the bench by coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. However, Low's trust in the young striker's abilities paid off with Podolski netting Germany's two goals and topping the EURO 2008 scoring charts.

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