Austria gave Germany quite a scare as the host nation sent a barrage of attacks on a German team determined to hold on to a slender 1 goal lead after Ballack sent a ferocious strike into the top corner from a freekick. Germany almost took an early lead only to see Gomez lift the supposed tap-in high into the air from 1m out. From there on, Austria began an onslaught of attacks but disappointingly, none of them failed to trouble Jens Lehmann.
From a free-kick in the 2nd half, Ballack fired a rocket beyond the reach of Jurgen Macho for a 1 goal lead. It proved to be the deciding goal as Germany closed shop right after the goal. Austria tried but failed to break down Metzelder and Mertesacker in the heart of the German defence. Germany sent on veteran Neuville but all that was not required as Germany held on to win 1-0 and goes through to the quarter finals.
Croatia probably taught Poland a valuable lesson in football when Slavan Bilic made a total of 9 changes to the winning side that beat Germany 2-1. Comfortably as it seems, Poland never looked like breaking down Croatia and were not threatening. At times, Smolarek found himself with good opportunities to score but his finishing failed him.
Croatia on the other hand, pounced on the advantage rule and Klasnic scored the only goal of the game. Poland was distraughted and their attacks started to grow desperate and many times, disappointing. All Croatia had to do was to hold on to their lead, and when the final whistle blew, they know that they are currently the team to beat in this tournament with maximum points from 3 games.
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