Poland v Greece, 08 June 2012

Score1-1
RefereeCarlos Velasco Carballo
CompetitionUEFA European Championship Finals Group A
VenueStadion Narodowy, Warsaw
Attendance56,826
Kick-off: 6.00pm local (5.00pm BST) Assistant referees: Roberto Alonso Fernández (Spain) Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (Spain) Fourth official: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy) Additional assistant referees: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain) Carlos Clos Gómez (Spain) Man of the Match: Robert Lewandowski (Poland) Greece denied Poland a winning start to UEFA EURO 2012 by coming from behind to claim a 1-1 draw in a dramatic opening match in Warsaw. The home party looked in full swing at half-time after a first period of Polish dominance brought a Robert Lewandowski goal, but Greece, down to ten men after Sokratis Papastathopoulos's dismissal, responded with a 51st-minute equaliser from substitute Dimitris Salpingidis. They might have won the game too when Wojciech Szczęsny brought down Salpingidis to earn himself a red card and give Greece a 71st-minute penalty. However, Giorgos Karagounis, a scorer when Greece beat Portugal in the UEFA EURO 2004 opener, failed to repeat history as Przemysław Tytoń saved his kick. A draw did not appear likely in a first half controlled by Franciszek Smuda's co-hosts. Poland had not played a competitive international since October 2009 and began like a team desperate to make up for lost time. With the stands around them awash with red and white and a chorus of "Polska" ringing in their ears, it must have felt that their moment had come. It took less than five minutes for Rafał Murawski to draw a tip-over save from Greece's goalkeeper, Kostas Chalkias, and the tone was set. Łukasz Piszczek, with a burst down the right and cross, was the architect of that opening and his partner-in-crime down Poland's right, Borussia Dortmund team-mate Jakub Błaszczykowski, was next to threaten, driving a first-time shot over. Although Fanis Gekas glanced wide from a Karagounis free-kick, Greece were struggling to cope with Poland's speed and energy. Moreover, though Fernando Santos's men will have well known the threat of club-mates Piszczek, Błaszczykowski and Lewandowski, stopping the Bundesliga-winning trio was proving a different matter. Lewandowski had just missed one Piszczek centre by a whisker when he nodded Poland in front from another in the 17th minute. This time, Błaszczykowski arrowed a deeper cross over from the right and Chalkias came out for the ball but was left stranded as Lewandowski got there first to head into the ground and high into the net. Poland might have got a second goal when a free-kick fell invitingly to Damien Perquis inside the box, but he dragged his shot wide. At that point, Greece had just lost Avraam Papadopoulos to injury – replaced by Kyriakos Papadopoulos – and before half-time they lost another centre-back as Papastathopoulos received a second yellow card after a collision with Murawski. The first half could hardly have gone worse for Greece, but they soon showed the mettle that had got them through qualifying unbeaten. Santos replaced Sotiris Ninis with Salpingidis at half-time and he made an immediate impact with the equaliser six minutes later. When Szczęsny challenged Gekas for a near-post Vassilis Torossidis cross, the ball bounced off his team-mate Marcin Wasilewski and Salpingidis steered it past Perquis on the line to become the first Greece player to score in both a UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup. The "Polska" cries continued, only now with less conviction. Samaras miscued one chance and then came Karagounis's golden opportunity – and Tytoń's intervention. Poland survived another scare with a disallowed Salpingidis strike, but the result was right.

1  Poland

Manager: Franciszek Smuda

1  Greece

Manager: Fernando Santos

Goals:

Robert Lewandowski 17 G

Goals:

Dimitrios Salpingidis 51 G

Starting lineup:

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny
Defender Damien Perquis
Defender Lukasz Piszczek
Defender/Midfielder Maciej Rybus
Midfielder Jakub Błaszczykowski (captain)
Midfielder Rafal Murawski
Midfielder Ludovic Obraniak
Midfielder Eugen Polanski

Starting lineup:

Kostas Chalkias Goalkeeper
José Holebas Defender
Giannis Maniatis Defender
Giorgios Karagounis Midfielder (captain)
Sotirios Ninis Midfielder/Forward
Theofanis Gekas Forward

Substitutions:

Przemyslaw Tyton for Maciej Rybus 70

Substitutions:

Kyriakos Papadopoulos for Avraam Papadopoulos 37
Dimitrios Salpingidis for Sotirios Ninis 46
Kostas Fortounis for Theofanis Gekas 68

Cards:

Wojciech Szczęsny 69 R

Cards:

Sokratis Papastathopoulos 35 Y
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 44 Y
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 44 R
José Holebas 45 Y
Giorgios Karagounis 54 Y

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton
Defender Dariusz Dudka
Defender Marcin Kamiński
Defender Jakub Wawrzyniak
Midfielder Adam Matuszczyk
Midfielder Adrian Mierzejewski
Midfielder Rafal Wolski
Midfielder/Forward Kamil Grosicki
Forward Pawel Brozek
Forward Artur Sobiech

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis
Goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas
Defender Stelios Malezas
Defender/Midfielder Grigorios Makos
Midfielder Giannis Fetfatzidis
Midfielder Giorgos Fotakis
Midfielder/Forward Kostas Fortounis

1  Poland

Manager: Franciszek Smuda

Goals:

Robert Lewandowski 17 G

Starting lineup:

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny
Defender Damien Perquis
Defender Lukasz Piszczek
Defender/Midfielder Maciej Rybus
Midfielder Jakub Błaszczykowski (captain)
Midfielder Rafal Murawski
Midfielder Ludovic Obraniak
Midfielder Eugen Polanski

Substitutions:

Przemyslaw Tyton for Maciej Rybus 70

Cards:

Wojciech Szczęsny 69 R

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton
Defender Dariusz Dudka
Defender Marcin Kamiński
Defender Jakub Wawrzyniak
Midfielder Adam Matuszczyk
Midfielder Adrian Mierzejewski
Midfielder Rafal Wolski
Midfielder/Forward Kamil Grosicki
Forward Pawel Brozek
Forward Artur Sobiech

1  Greece

Manager: Fernando Santos

Goals:

Dimitrios Salpingidis 51 G

Starting lineup:

Kostas Chalkias Goalkeeper
José Holebas Defender
Giannis Maniatis Defender
Giorgios Karagounis Midfielder (captain)
Sotirios Ninis Midfielder/Forward
Theofanis Gekas Forward

Substitutions:

Kyriakos Papadopoulos for Avraam Papadopoulos 37
Dimitrios Salpingidis for Sotirios Ninis 46
Kostas Fortounis for Theofanis Gekas 68

Cards:

Sokratis Papastathopoulos 35 Y
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 44 Y
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 44 R
José Holebas 45 Y
Giorgios Karagounis 54 Y

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis
Goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas
Defender Stelios Malezas
Defender/Midfielder Grigorios Makos
Midfielder Giannis Fetfatzidis
Midfielder Giorgos Fotakis
Midfielder/Forward Kostas Fortounis