1-1
The Greeks have reason to complain, but not much. Both Papasthatopolous' yellow cards were questionable; the second wasn't even a foul by many refereeing standards. They had their shot with a penalty, and the goal that was not conceded shouldn't have been. With that said, I disagree with the Darke-McManaman ESPN commentary that Greece have been passive and have only themselves to blame. This is Greece's game and it has been for a very long time now: wait, pass, kill the pace, and counter when you can. They're physically and technically inferior to almost everyone in their group, and they know it, and Santos has coached them well to that effect. If they had tried to play Poland's much more savvy game, they'd have been slaughtered. If anything, Poland must recriminate, but even then only against themselves. They had the psychological upper hand for the vast majority of the game, especially given the early score, and they couldn't hold on to it. They even failed to capitalize on the numerical superiority, which they held for over one-third of the game. If only Karagounis had converted that penalty, they would have been punished excessively. Overall, it was a relatively mediocre game, made more interesting by a few questionable calls and by the allure of the home team. There will be, one hopes, much better to see in this tournament.
My rating: ★ ½
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Russia's tactical superiority has been obvious from minute one, with Arshavin dominating the midfield and a colossal tactical victory for Advocaat. There was only one team on the pitch for the majority of the ninety and it couldn't have ended any other way. More in general, I am very pleased that we are seeing the same excellent Russia of four years ago in Euro 2008: strong, fast, quick, and cunning, a faithful reflection of the state of Russian football in the last decades. In 2008 they cleared a killer group and stunned the Netherlands in the quarterfinals in a memorable game, before succumbing to the eventual champions Spain. I doubt they have it in them to pull it off again, but if today is any indication, Advocaat's boys are an interesting outsider to watch out for and a clear candidate to win Group A.
My rating: ★★ ½
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GROUP A STANDINGS
| team | points | wins | ties | losses | goals+ | goals- |
| RUSSIA | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| GREECE | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| POLAND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| CZECH REP. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
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