WROCLAW, June 17: All it took was one strike from Czech midfielder Petr Jiracek to bring an end to the European Championship dreams of 40 million Poles.

Jiracek scored with a stylish 72nd-minute strike as a revitalised Czech Republic surprised even their own fans by reaching the Euro 2012 quarter-finals as Group ‘A’ winners after sealing a 1-0 win over the co-hosts at the Municipal Stadium here on Saturday.

Poland, so full of joy and youthful exuberance during this tournament both on and off the pitch, can also look back on wasted opportunities in the opening draw with Greece and coach Franciszek Smuda said he was stepping down.

“My adventure with the national team is over,” Smuda said afterwards. “It is a bitter pill to swallow. We were too sure about the possibility of winning. We had some opportunities in the first-half, we didn’t take advantage of them and we lost the game.”

The Czechs will play the runners-up of Group ‘B’ in the knockout stage in Warsaw next week.

After withstanding a first-half barrage from Poland, the Czechs pushed forward in the second-half, looking for an opening. It came on the counter in the 72nd minute, when Jiracek collected a pass from Milan Baros in the box, cut right to clear past Poland’s Marcin Wasilewski and slotted the ball inside the far post.

“We had a poor start but we gradually improved, started to create chances and finally, we deserved to score,” Jiracek said.

Few would have predicted such an outcome before the group games began and even fewer who saw the first halves here and in Warsaw where Greece defeated Russia 1-0 in the other group match.

“We started badly and let the occasion get to us a little bit,” said Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech. “We knew the result (of the other game), they told us and we could see it on a screen, but we focused on ourselves, decided not to wait for miracles and to score instead.”

The Czechs pulled off the win despite playing without their captain and playmaker Tomas Rosicky, who was sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury with coach Michal Bilek having been booed by Czech supporters.

“We are satisfied because we beat a team that played at home,” said Bilek. “We weren’t good in the first 25 minutes and then we improved. We have been in difficult situations but have been able to play as a team.”

The Polish fans did their team proud with a rousing rendition of “Polska” towards the end and the applause for the Czech victors as well as their fallen heroes was also a nice touch, contrasting with the violence before the co-hosts’ 1-1 draw with Russia on Tuesday.

“In the first half we had some chances and didn’t take advantage of them,” captain Jakub Blaszczykowski said. “With the time passing, we had to open up more and more, and I think this is the reason we conceded a goal on the counter.”—Agencies