Euro 2008 Day 2: Convincing start for Germany

Even more annoying flag sightings, this time right across my backyard on a balcony on the top floor. A huge German flag. Boy, I'm pissed. What's not surprising is that there have been slight squarrels between German and Polish fans in Klagenfurt with 17 arrests. German newspapers report that the German side was chanting anti-polish and racist slogans. All this comes as no surprise since tabloids from Poland had very mean and brutal headlines over the past week which led to retaliation from Germany's biggest tabloid "Bild". We'll just have to wait and see what will happen after the game. When both teams met during the World Cup 2006 there were some of the worst riots during the tournament.

Austria vs Croatia 0-1 (Group B)
On paper this looked like a sure win for Croatia and they went ahead early with a penalty after a foul against Ivica Olic. But from the 30th minute on they seemed to lose control of the game. Austria organized themselves and created quite a few chances. In the 2nd half it was only red-white-red. Croatia was begging for the equalizer with no effort to score a second goal. This was simply disappointing. A team who has so much skill standing in their own half and defending all the time. The player who impressed me most was Ümit Korkmaz who will go to Eintracht Frankfurt for the next season. When he came into the game Austria suddenly became much more stronger over their right side. That was something the Austrian team was missing in the beginning, all their attacks came way too often through the middle of the pitch. In the end, they deserved a draw but they simply weren't able to get clear shots at the Croatian goal. I don't see the German team have any problems with both sides, but we still have to wait how they fare against Poland.

Germany vs Poland 2-0 (Group B)
A good start into the tournament for the German team. The first half was awesome, albeit because of the Polish team putting up a good clean fight. Chances on both sides with the clearer ones for Germany which eventually lead to the first goal by Lukas Podolski. The play over the wings was extraordinary, I haven't seen a German team play a game on the sides so well in a long time. Both defensively and offensively defenders Marcell Jansen and Philipp Lahm alongside with their offensive counterparts Lukas Podolski and Clemens Fritz were great. In the first half they were dominant. The defense started to crumble a little bit after 35 minutes, but the chances Poland created weren't very convincing.
After the break Poland got more of the game while one could see that the German wingers were at their limit. Still the German attack was always a threat. There was one scene in the middle of the 2nd half when Germany took the ball in their own defense and started to flow, passing the ball over short distances, then suddenly stepping up a level and starting a promising attack over the right side which lead to a great shot by Michael Ballack which eventually was saved by Polish keeper Artur Boruc. The second goal put an end to all Polish dreams, by then Germany was in complete control.
What was annoying - as always - was the German commentary, but I have stopped to look for anything better from German TV stations. It's plainly disgraceful.
Germany are in first place of their group and looked very confident. I didn't watch the Portugal match, but this showing tonight was worthy of a contender for the title.