Both teams are on three points after winning their opening matches, with Germany easing to a 2-0 victory over a limited Ukraine team, and know that three more points would all but ensure qualification to the knock-out stages with a game to spare.
Advertisement
Poland coach Adam Nawalka said he was never concerned about Germany scoring a breakthrough goal as his team held the world champions to a 0-0 draw in Euro 2016 Group C on Thursday.
Poland’s Arkadiusz Milik had the best chance when he bundled the ball wide from point-blank range early in the second-half.
And the Ajax Amsterdam forward wasted another chance on 70 minutes he scuffed his shot from another Grosicki cross.
The Legia Warsaw centre-back was one of the best players for Poland tonight as he was rock solid in the heart of defence alongside Kamil Glik.
Only once in five tournaments under coach Joachim Loew has Germany started with two consecutive victories, with Thursday’s goalless draw against Poland at the European Championship being the latest in an unwanted sequence. Milik scored the victor against Northern Ireland and had six goals and as many assists in qualifying.
A glaring miss was fittingly the key moment of a Group C game that led to Ukraine becoming the first team to be eliminated from Euro 2016. “We must improve our finishing, we play well until the last third, then we can’t get past our opponent and aren’t unsafe”.
Hummels; who replaced Mustafi in the starting eleven, proved his worth with a resolute defensive performance for manager Low, helping his side seal a fifth consecutive clean sheet against the Poles.
“You’ve seen in other games that the favourites have a problem”, Loew said, of “battles of attrition” so far.
Mario Gotze saw a header sail over the bar after just four minutes before Jonas Hector and Sami Khedira also spurned opportunities. “It would be good to get a goal, but I haven’t had any chances”, the Bayern München striker said.
The 27-year-old has struck a blank in his first two games for Poland, and is yet to register a shot on target for his troubles too.
Veteran defender Gareth McAuley’s header and McGinn’s goal in stoppage goal gave Northern Ireland a famous win over Ukraine.
One thing is certain – Ukraine will finish bottom of Group C. They have the dubious honour of becoming the first team to have no chance of making the knockout stages after two games played. “I hope I will score against Ukraine, but more than that, I hope we win and go through”.
“The first match was a historic win over Germany, it was very important for us in terms of building our side”.
Advertisement
The tensions between both countries were high since 1939 and both sets of fans were passionately singing and cheering their respective teams on from the streets of Paris into the fifth largest stadium in Europe.
