Czech Republic 1 Poland 0: Hosts Poland falter but Czechs turn it around

The co-hosts finished bottom of Group A following their loss to the Czech Republic in Wroclaw, with Petr Jiracek’s second-half goal the difference.

It was a stunning turn-around for a Czech side who lost their opening game 4-1 against Russia but then won their next two to finish on top of the group.

Smuda’s contract expires after the championship but he will not be seeking a renewal.

“When it comes to a dismissal, I don’t really have to give up my position because I only had a contract up until this competition,” he said. “When the contract expires, I had an oral agreement with the Polish FA president so I know what’s going to happen.

“For this two-and-a-half years we have really created a team that we can count on in the future. Maybe we can improve in the future. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t as good as we could have imagined but this is football, this is how it works.”

Poland went into the game knowing only victory would do after draws against Greece and Russia respectively.

They came out all guns blazing in the Municipal Stadium with Robert Lewandowski slicing horribly wide from a good position while Sebastian Boenisch’s dipping 30-yard effort forced a fine save from goalkeeper Petr Cech.

The Czechs approached the match perhaps believing a draw would be enough to take them into the knockout stages but they were seemingly stung into action after Greece took a shock half-time lead against Russia in the other Group A game in Warsaw and Michal Bilek’s men were much the better side after the interval.

“We had to swallow this bitter pill,” Smuda said. “I think that probably we were too sure about this possibility of winning against the Czech Republic.

“They played excellent football, they scored a goal, we had some opportunities in the first half but we didn’t take advantage of them and we lost the game.”

Czech coach Bilek said: “We knew that Greece had scored and told the players to be patient and to be attentive at the back. We lost the first match and the situation was very difficult but the guys showed their morale and I’m very happy.”