EURO 2012: Early Goals Prove Enough For Czech Republic; 1-1 Draw Between Poland And Russia

The second cycle of group-stage contests in the European Championship got started on Tuesday with two games in Group A, both played in Poland:

At Wroclaw:



Petr Jiracek (3') and Vaclav Pilar (6') provided the scoring as the Czech Republic held off Greece 2-1.  Theofanis Gekas scored the lone goal for the Greeks, as he bets goalkeeper Petr Cech here.

At Warsaw:



Jakub Blaszczykowksi's equalizer in the 57th minute (shown here) enabled Poland to salvage a 1-1 draw with Russia.  Alan Dzagoev scored in the 37th minute for the Russians.

Getty Images photos

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Russia (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 4)
2. Czech Republic (GP: 2; GD: -2; PTS: 3)
3. Poland (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 2)
4. Greece (GP: 2; GD: -1; PTS: 1)