EURO 2012: Spain Dominates And Eliminates Ireland; Late Goal Gains 1-1 Draw For Croatia With Italy

Action from Group C of the European Championship continued with two Thursday games played in Poland:


At Poznan:





Mario Mandzukic's equalizer in the 72nd minute lifted Croatia to a 1-1 draw with Italy.  Andrea Pirlo scored for the Azzurri in the 39th minute (shown here as Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa failed to stop it).


Getty Images photo






At Gdansk:





Fernando Torres scored twice (4' [shown here], 70') as Spain eliminated the Republic of Ireland from the tournament with a 4-0 frontier-styled fist beating.


Associated Press photo


GROUP C STANDINGS:


1. Spain (GP: 2; GD: +4; PTS: 4)
2. Croatia (GP: 2; GD; +2; PTS: 4)
3. Italy (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 2)
4. z-Republic of Ireland (GP: 2; GD: -6; PTS: 0)


z-Eliminated from tournament